CUET, JEE, NEET merger will be announced at least two years in advance: Jagadesh Kumar

NEW DELHI: The merger of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) with the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) exams will be announced at least two years in advance, said University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, as per a PTI report.

"It is definitely doable. The details are being worked out but whenever the merger happens, announcement will be made at least two years in advance so the students can prepare accordingly,” Kumar said in an interview with PTI.

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"NEP 2020 has clearly said the burden should be reduced on student by having single national level entrance examination. We floated the idea to mentally prepare students that NEP has proposed such a thing and there is a possibility in the coming years. We are working internally, how to take this forward,” he added.

Earlier, Kumar said that no formal decision has been taken on the merger of JEE, NEET, and CUET and nothing will be imposed on students. His comments came two days after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said there are no plans to merge these exams for the next two years.

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The merger proposal was not received well by the students, parents and academicians. Several students expressed concerns and doubts about the idea of merging engineering, medical and UG entrance exams into ‘one nation, one entrance exam’.

In August last year, UGC had announced the proposal of merging the three exams and a single entrance exam. The purpose behind the proposal is to reduce the stress on students. “The proposal is, can we integrate all these entrance examinations so that our students are not subjected to multiple entrance examinations based on the same knowledge-base? The students should have one single entrance examination, but multiple opportunities to apply among the disciplines,” Kumar had said. UGC also saw the move from the point of simplifying the logistics process for both aspirants as well as the National Testing Agency (NTA).