There are no plans to merge the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) with the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for next two years, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister said on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
According to the minister, the merger of exams is currently only a “concept” and not “decision”. He further added that students should not be afraid.
M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) had last month said JEE and NEET will be merged with the CUET in future.
“Merger of NEET, JEE and CUET is currently a concept, a thought, and the government has not yet decided upon it in principle,” Pradhan said while interacting with students, mostly hailing from his home state Odisha, of Allen Career Institute here during his one-day visit to the city on Tuesday.
“There is no proposal of merging NEET, JEE with CUET and it will take at least two years to decide upon the concept of a merger of the three exams and to conduct a combined test,” the minister added.
Furthermore, the UGC chairman had said last month that glitches in CUET UG will not affect the expansion plans of the crucial exam but the merger will not be “hurried up”.
“As per the NEP, the plan is to have a common entrance exam to reduce the burden on students of appearing in multiple entrances. However, we won’t hurry up to introduce it as we need to plan well. It is a massive exercise and our focus is on planning and taking forward from the lessons we have learnt while conducting CUET,” the chairman said.
“The commission will set up an expert committee which will study all important entrance exams being conducted in the country as well as abroad. If we have to introduce the exam next year, the preparation has to start now considering the massive exercise and the different disciplines involved,” Kumar said.
With inputs from PTI.
Also Read – Assam: Madrassa demolished, students face uncertain future