JNU Considers In-House PhD Entrance Amid UGC NET Paper Leak

Jawaharlal Nehru University is considering reverting to in-house entrance examinations for PhD admission, after the UGC NET exam was cancelled due to integrity concerns. The admission into PhD programmes at JNU was supposed to be conducted through the now cancelled UGC NET this academic session. In a statement on Thursday, the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) announced that JNU is considering conducting its own entrance examination.

The JNUTA said, Santishree D Pandit, Vice Chancellor took the decision on July 3, 2024 to open up the possibility of resurrecting the old system of JNU conducting its own entrance examination for PhD admission.JNUTA said it considers a positive response to the specific demand raised by it after the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET Examination.A senior university official has confirmed that such considerations are underway.

Over the last year, teachers and students highlighted the problems with the NTA-led examination. Students and teachers have been demanding that the university reassume the responsibility of conducting the entrance examination. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had been conducting the examination for several years. Candidates seeking admission into PhD programmes had to appear in the Computer Based Test.

This year, JNU announced a change in its selection process for admission to its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes. Starting from the current academic year, JNU said it will accept the National Eligibility Test (NET) score instead of conducting its own entrance test, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

On June 19, the Centre cancelled the exam crucial for entry-level teaching jobs and PhD admissions in universities, following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that "the integrity of the examination may have been compromised".

In the statement, JNUTA said: "It welcomes the decisions taken in the meeting of the Vice Chancellor and Deans of Schools on 3 July, 2024, as well as to refer the matter to the faculty of Schools/Centres for their opinions."

"JNUTA considers this to be a vindication of its long-standing position on the matter of entrance examinations, as well as a positive response to the specific demands raised by it after the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET Examination," said the JNUTA.