Bengal: Admissions to UG, PG courses will be online, merit-based

KOLKATA: State-run higher educational institutions in West Bengal will have to complete the admission process online based on merit without calling anyone to campus for any other process, the higher education department has said in a notification.

In view of the success of the online admission process last year with requisite infrastructure already put in place in state's higher educational institutions, admission to all undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses in the state-funded higher educational institutions for the ensuing 2021-22 session will be made online, the department said.

"Online admission process should be done based on merit. Prospective students should not be called for counselling or verification of documents during the process of admission. No physical presence will be required in the college/university," the notification said. A copy of the notification dated July 14 was made available to PTI on Thursday.

Application to UG, PG courses

While the date of opening online portal for application to UG courses will be August 2, it will be completed by August 20. The merit list will be out by August 31 and the entire admission process will be over by September 30. The semester will begin on October 1. For PG courses, the results of UG final semester will be on August 31, followed by opening of the online application portal on September 1 and completion on September 15. The PG admission merit list will be out by September 20 and the admissions will be over by October 25, so that the first semester classes begin by the last week of October itself.

The notice said the ratio for home university students and those from other universities will be in 80:20 ratio but any unfilled home university quota seat will be filled by other university students. The Education department in a recent virtual meeting with vice chancellors had urged them not to hold entrance tests for UG and PG levels in view of the Covid situation and make it entirely merit-based counting their marks in plus two board examination for UG or final year semester results for PG, one of the attending VCs had said. Results of higher secondary examination will be announced in West Bengal on July 22. An official of Presidency University said while the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board will not conduct entrance tests to UG and PG courses this year, the authorities will shortly decide on a new mechanism in conformity with the notification.