Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has declared that, as of the current academic year, the National Eligibility Test (NET) score will be accepted by JNU in lieu of the National Testing Agency (NTA) entrance exam as the criterion for admission to its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs.
As part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, UGC will assist students with a single national entrance exam. According to JNU’s announcement on Saturday, the UGC has decided, via its Public Notice dated March 27, 2024, that the results of the National Eligibility Test (NET), administered by UGC and CSIR, can be used by Universities/HEIs for Ph.D. Admission in lieu of entrance exams.
Following this directive, JNU has opted to use the NET scores for PhD admissions, effectively replacing the entrance test previously conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“Accordingly, JNU has decided to use NET score in place of the entrance test conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to Ph.D Programmes in the University from the academic session 2024-25,” the notice added.
Recently, after a protest by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) at the University Grants Commission (UGC) Headquarters, the Joint Secretary of UGC met the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) office bearers.
The JNUSU pointed out that the arbitrary decision to replace PhD Entrance Exams with NET scores will further alienate a lot of students, especially those from marginalised sections, from research and the gates of universities will close for many.
The JNUSU noted that many students, particularly those from marginalized sections, will become even more estranged from research and their access to higher education will be restricted as a result of the arbitrary decision to replace PhD Entrance Exams with NET scores.
In response, the UGC Joint Secretary announced that an internal meeting would be held to discuss these issues. The autonomy of universities to administer their entrance exams was also conveyed.
On April 29, the JNUSU will meet with the Director of Admissions to insist that JNUEE be used going forward for the PhD entrance exam.
