‘Degradation of academia’: SFI on UGC’s approval to NET for PhD admissions

NEW DELHI: The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) said that the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s decision to allow National Eligibility Test (NET) for PhD admissions will lead to degradation of academia. SFI demanded that the newly introduced third category in UGC NET for admission to research programmes should not be used to reduce the number of students who qualify for assistant professorship and Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).

The students’ body found multiple issues with the use of UGC NET for PhD admissions regarding the new category for eligibility, weightage, and validity. It argued that the third category for 'Qualification for PhD alone' makes NET a traditional entrance test where rankings based on an MCQ test are going to decide the fate of an aspiring research scholar. Not only does the decision affect the autonomy of the universities but also strips students of the opportunity to gain PhD admissions in various ways, SFI feels.

“The notice makes NET mandatory for PhD admissions. As of now, on top of recognising NET as an eligibility criteria for PhD admissions, many universities also conduct their own Entrance Tests, curated to the academic ethos and expectations of that university, to admit students. This centralised mandate of making NET a compulsory criteria for PhD across the country in all the institutions, is likely to see the removal of university level entrance tests for PhD, thus negatively affecting the autonomy of institutions as well as the opportunity of students attain eligibility for PhD in more than one way,” SFI said.

PhD admissions through NET: Weightage, validity concerns

The students’ organisation expressed concern over the shift from focusing on quality to cracking the exam that the change will bring, as NET has been given 70% weightage for admission to PhD programmes. It said that a core part of the entire admission process, research proposal, is completely missing in the UGC notice.

“There is absolutely no weightage allotted for Research Proposal which should form the core of the decision making of any PhD admission as it is the Research Proposal that reflects the academic brilliance of a research scholar, not an MCQ test. If the marks scored in NET is given weightage in PhD admissions, it will naturally lead to greater focus on the numbers scored in NET alone, and the actual quality and emphasis on Proposals for PhD may suffer. This move is utterly unscientific and will lead to the degradation of academia all over the country,” the federation said.

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Further, the reduction of validity of the UGC NET qualifying certificate from two years to one year will take away the opportunity from various aspirants to apply for PhD across the country, SFI worried. It “will force the aspiring researchers to cut down time from working on their research proposal and focus more on cracking the entrance test again and again like a machine,” the students’ body added.

The UGC notice also says nothing about how this change will affect the UGC NET cut-offs or the total number of students who qualify, found SFI, and thus demanded that the new method should not be used to reduce the number of students getting the fellowship or qualifying for assistant professorship.

“This notice released by UGC is extremely concerning for the student community and poses grave threats to the quality of Indian academia. This is a move to dilute potential research and make the whole endeavour a centralised mechanical chore that lacks vision. SFI appeals to the student community to see the danger that is posed towards their future as well as the future of the nation,” SFI urged students and PhD aspirants.