Anti-student policy, undermines autonomy of universities: JNUSU on UGC NET for PhD admissions

NEW DELHI: Calling the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s move mandating UGC NET for PhD admissions an ‘anti-student policy’, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) urged students to reject it. The students’ body said that the decision undermines the autonomy of institutions.

JNUSU found the step detrimental to research in India citing exam irregularities on part of the National Testing Agency (NTA), disregard to students coming from diverse disciplines, discrepancies in subjects and departments, and the National Eligibility Test not catering to unique academic demands.

The students’ union argued that the UGC notice on use of NET scores for PhD admissions asserts that the decision was made based on recommendations from an expert committee but hasn’t given any details about the composition of the committee. Moreover, the commission didn’t take into account the thoughts of the student community on the change, JNUSU said.

Explaining how the decision is anti-student, JNUSU first-of-all pointed towards the incapability of NTA in holding exams properly. The students’ body mentioned the issues of alleged paper leaks, delays and discrepancies in exams and results, and concerns regarding the normalization process in the UGC NET since the commission handed over the responsibility to NTA. “Under these circumstances, the decision to make the NTA-conducted NET the exclusive entrance exam for PhD programmes jeopardizes the academic prospects of aspiring scholars,” it said.

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UGC NET for PhD admissions

The students’ body claimed that now students from diverse subject areas will be forced to study non-related subjects to get admissions in their domain as UGC NET exam is not conducted for certain programmes. JNUSU gave the example of Korean and labour studies subjects for which currently there is no exam.

“However, due to this arbitrary rule, they must now prepare to qualify in subjects like sociology or economics to secure admission to Labour Studies. This not only underscores the absurdity of the situation but also highlights the UGC's indifference to the diverse needs of students and academic centres,” the JNU students argued.

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The students of JNU feel that the move failed to address the problem of merit given to interview for PhD admissions in the central university. “For several years, JNU has permitted JRF holders to partake in walk-in interviews for Ph.D. programmes. However, irrespective of the subject in which they cleared the NET, candidates can appear for interviews across various departments. Consequently, interview performance becomes the sole determinant for admission, without assessing the candidate's subject knowledge if they hold a JRF in a different field,” JNUSU explained.

Further delving into the in-house problems, JNUSU said that resorting to a single entrance exam will disregard unique academic requirements in JNU. It explained that there are multiple research centres that require similar but unique training. “For instance, an MA student in economics could pursue a Ph.D. in five different centres. However, the specific academic requirements for PhD programmes in these centres are autonomous and divergent, necessitating the administration of distinct entrance exams in the past,” it said. JNUSU urged the student community to stand in solidarity with the union to reject the policy.