Amid backlash, the administration of JNU has deferred the computer based entrance exam for the academic year 2019–20.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, has postponed it’s first ever computer based entrance exam for the academic session 2019-2020. The exam was originally scheduled for December 2018, however, in lieu of difficulties faced by examinees, the administration has decided to defer the examination. It was decided at the 148th Academic Council of the university that the examination will now be held in May 2018; the tentative date for the exam is yet to be announced.
JNU announced a shift to computer based entrance exams for MPhil and PhD admissions in September 2018. The Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar said that, “JNU is the first Central university to be collaborating with National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct its national-level entrance examination across the country”. The examination is to be conducted with the aid of private vendors for managing the examination centres.
The administration’s decision to conduct the exam electronically was scrutinized and opposed by the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) and faculty members. JNUSU had termed the change in mode of entrance exam from descriptive to objective as a ‘scam’ and ‘unilaterally imposed by the Vice-Chancellor’
However, these claims have been refuted by the administration, and the decision has been finalised.
Feature Image Credits: The Wire
Nikita Bhatia
nikitab@dubeat.com