The Ministry of Education (MoE) on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that some central universities have been given exemption from admitting students through the Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate programmes (CUET-UG) for one year due to ‘operational difficulties’.
“Given the operational difficulties in some of the central universities in the North Eastern region, the universities have been allowed to take admission in their affiliated colleges as per the past practice for the year 2022-23 only. CUET is optional for state and private universities,” Subhas Sarkar, Union Minister of State for Education, in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha said.
He added that no central university has been exempted from the ambit of CUET.
The universities which have been exempted from admitting students through CUET for undergraduate programmes for one year include the Sikkim University, Rajiv Gandhi University, Manipur University, Assam University, Tezpur University, Nagaland University, Tripura University, Mizoram University, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) as well as Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (HNBGU).
Further, Sarkar stated that in pursuance of the National Education Policy, 2020, it was decided to conduct a common entrance test for admission in Central Universities under the Ministry of Education from the academic year 2022-23 to reduce the burden on students, universities and the entire education system.
The CUET has been announced for undergraduate courses and it has been decided to make it available for the post-graduate courses also on an optional basis, he added.
CUET, which was earlier known as the Central Universities Common Entrance Test, is a national level entrance test for admission into various undergraduate, postgraduate, integrated, diploma, certification courses and research programmes offered through 45 Central Universities of India. The test is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the government body which holds entrance examinations in India.
With inputs from PTI
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