With around 15 lakh students applying for CUET-UG, the second edition of the Common Entrance Test has seen a spurt in the number of applications received as compared to last year’s first edition, making it the second largest entrance test in the country Has been. With reference to applicants after NEET-UG.
Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir) and Jharkhand have seen a 6.7 times increase in the number of applications compared to the previous year, making it a challenge for the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the test, to identify enough test centres. It has become a challenge. The lack of centers prompted the agency to cancel the first phase of the exam schedule in J&K and seek a temporary center in Srinagar, while many students may still have to appear in the neighboring state or city.
Ahead of the exams scheduled to begin from May 21 to June 6, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Professor M Jagadesh Kumar, allaying the concerns of the students, elaborated on the numbers, challenges and informed that this year’s exams will be held earlier. How would it be different from Last year.
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The second edition of CUET-UG witnessed an unprecedented number of applicants overall, with a huge increase in the number of applicants from J&K and Jharkhand. Which are the other states which have seen an increase?
This year, we have received a total of 14.99 lakh applications for CUET-UG, which is 41 percent more than last year’s number of 9.9 lakh. Out of this, two states – Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand – have registered a phenomenal growth in the number of applications, which is 6.7 times more than the number of applications received last year. While 87,309 students applied from J&K as compared to 13,021 this year, we received 1,78,630 applications from Jharkhand, which numbered 26,497 last year. When combined, this means that 17.74 per cent of all the students who applied for the exam are from these two states alone.
The top five states in terms of number of applicants are – Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir. Then, other regions that registered a significant increase include the Northeast (all eight states), which saw a 31 per cent increase in total applicants from last year’s first edition. This is followed by the southern states, where Kerala and Tamil Nadu have registered huge growth of 51 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.
What do you think are the reasons behind the exponential boom in applications?
The increase can be mainly attributed to two factors – one is the growing popularity of the Common Entrance Test while the other is the increase in the number of participating universities from 99 to 250 this year. This is also true for Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, where students know that they can now apply directly to 45 central universities instead of applying multiple times through one entrance test. Also, it is a significant indicator for the southern states where several objections were raised over the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which outlined the need for a common entrance test for admission to UG courses in universities.
There has also been an increase in the number of reserved category applicants as compared to last year. The highest increase of 61.50 per cent is in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, followed by 45.20 per cent in Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 33.50 per cent in Scheduled Castes (SC). This boom suggests that it can increase diversity in educational institutions, which will ultimately help students develop better.
The launch of CUET-UG last year witnessed both technical and administrative glitches. Given that the numbers are huge this time, how are you preparing to conduct this massive exercise across the country?
In terms of number of slots, CUET-UG will even surpass NEET and JEE, which used to be the biggest entrance exams conducted across the country till now. The exam has been scheduled for 14,99,778 candidates who have opted for 64,35,050 exam papers. This means we have prepared for 64.35 lakh slots on the scheduled days of the exam. These candidates have applied for 48,779 unique combinations of subjects across 250 central, state and other participating universities.
Due to huge number of applicants, we are facing shortage of exam centers in J&K and Jharkhand, as the centers should be in institutes which have computer compatibility and a strong internet connection. We are trying to allot centers to the students within their city but it may happen that some students still have to appear in the neighboring state/city like Punjab in case of J&K and Chandigarh in case of Jharkhand Bhubaneswar for
All other logistics are in place as this year the preparations started much earlier and the schedule was announced much earlier. The whole process of identifying the exam centers started long back and it is a decentralized process based on the size of the center in each state. We have already done dummy test on all the computers designated at the centers and checked internet connectivity at each center to avoid any uploading/downloading issues. Also, we have kept additional computers ready on standby.
What will be the test slots? Some students are raising concerns like issue of admit cards and remote allotment of exam centres?
The exam will be conducted on each scheduled day between 8.30 AM to 6.30 PM in three slots – 1st slot 8.30 AM to 10.30 AM, 2nd 12 Noon to 2 PM and 3rd 3.30 PM to 6.30 PM Will happen. As far as the admit cards are concerned, these were released on Friday morning for those appearing in the first phase of the schedule (May 21-24). Admit cards for the next phase (May 25-28) will be issued on May 23. Usually the admit cards are issued three days before the exam.
With regard to allotment of centres, we are trying to allot students their preferred city and nearest centre, but still there might be some cases where students are allotted center outside their city limits. Since the number of applications is huge and because students are writing multiple test papers based on subject choices, which means each student is writing roughly four tests, allotting centers nearby becomes a challenge. In the case of Delhi, there were reports of centers being allotted to many students by accident in Meerut. We are contacting these students and allotting them centers in NCR itself. If any student still feels the need to change the exam city, they can approach NTA, where a team is looking into resolving such issues.
What advice would you give to students going to take the exam?
In terms of preparation, students must revise what they have studied in class XII and clear their concepts. They should practice more in applying these concepts. Also, students should go for the exam with a calm mind and should not sit till late night before the exam. It is advised to reach the exam center at least two hours before to avoid any delay.
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