Cancellation of June 2024 UGC-NET exam sparks debate on standards and relevance of exams

The Ministry of Education has announced that the June 2024 UGC-NET exam has been cancelled. Although this comes as a surprise to many, experts believe that a problem is brewing with the exam itself.

The new guidelines

On March 27, 2024, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said that National Eligibility Test (NET) results can now be used for admission to PhD programs in place of the tests entry tests carried out by different universities and higher education establishments. (He is).

Defining its objective, the notice said: “To assist students in clearing National Entrance Test for PhD admission as part of the implementation of National Education Policy 2020, the UGC has constituted an expert committee to review the provisions of the National Eligibility Test (NET). “.

Given the continuous barrage of criticism directed at the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducted the National Eligibility and Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET-UG) and also supervised the June session of the UGC -NET 2024, was this change well received? by academicians and aspirants?

Antara Chakrabarty, a fourth-year sociology doctoral student at South Asian University (SAU), shared with EdexLive that there was a strong expectation that the questionnaire this time would be conceptual and research-oriented. However, this turned out to be rather disappointing.

She further argued that the very idea of ​​the review was rejected because it did not verify:

Are research and writing skills measured correctly?

According to Chakrabarty, the PhD largely involves producing a thesis and research publications, she questions whether a poorly documented student would be able to get a free pass if they qualify for the NET exam , or if a qualified candidate would be denied their place due to low scores.

She also adds that due to these MCQ (multiple choice questions) eligibility tests and lack of proper research training, there is an increase in paid research proposal writing. “PhD is a personal endeavor that gives the researcher the choice to choose what they can work on, but now getting a particular score would add unnecessary pressure on students who might lack privileges,” Antara said.

Can this deterioration of standards make it possible to judge students effectively?

Chakrabarty believes that the subject matter of the questions has diminished over the years. Stating the change in model, from essay questions to MCQs, and the merging of Papers I and II since December 2018, she maintains that the model had a standard. However, she says that over the past few years, the newspaper has started copying the pattern of code-based answers from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which can prove problematic in a few cases.

Chakrabarty, who has over two years of experience coaching UGC-NET students, says the recent questions are “irrelevant” and have no “underlying value”.

“For example, the June 2024 sociology paper was filled with timeline-based questions about thinkers and books. Which peripheral theorist wrote which book and in what year – how is it relevant to the student? Even more, the political science article was filled with useless information. Timeline based questions on Chief Justices of India (CJI). It seems that the questions were asked by people who do not know how and what should be seen when assessing which core capabilities are essential,” the academic said.

Examination only for some, and not for all?

Drawing attention to a less discussed point, Chakrabarty claims that the questions were copied from textbooks followed in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK). She further told EdexLive that English students would fail to answer it if they did not memorize it. For students of other vernacular mediums, she wonders if they would be able to answer questions they have absolutely no idea about.

She said, “Students from vernacular backgrounds, no matter how much they understand the subject or have read it, cannot answer such questions. There are no translated versions of these books. Questioners are insensitive to the language barrier. students are now able to do a PhD or get the bare minimum of funds during their PhD in the name of a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)?”

The advent of rote learning and a culture of copy and paste?

Highlighting the impractical nature of these questions, Antara claims that the sociology questions were copied from textbooks followed in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. She says no one can answer these questions if they haven’t memorized them.

Commenting on the redundancy of the MCQ culture and the decline in the standard of questions, she said the “academic chain” would see a downgrade. This would also fuel a culture of coaching, and research would remain dormant, without individual reflection and researchers without basic knowledge and skills.

Why do students who have already passed the exam need to take the exam again?

For Loni Ahmed Das, an alumnus of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) and belonging to a marginalized section of society, becoming a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) was a milestone achieved. She qualified there in 2023 and her scores will be valid for the next three years from the qualifying year. However, she can only benefit from the scholarship if she is enrolled in a college or university and has a new valid UGC-NET score.

The recent changes have certainly crippled her prospects as she had to reappear for UGC-NET despite qualifying in 2023.

“Earlier, central universities had their exams, but now UoH accepts UGC-NET scores. Not only is the autonomy of the university dead, but the prospects of scholars like us have also dimmed,” expresses Loni in anger.

Ambient confusion

For Nishi, an aspirant, more problems emerged during her appearance at the June 2024 UGC-NET session. Not only does she have no idea what scores will be deemed acceptable by universities, but only students with high scores on the JRF will be called for admission. She calls this “highly exclusionary and unfair”, given that students, even if qualified for UGC-NET, might not get a chance to enroll in PhD courses, especially in central universities and other renowned universities as the competition might be higher.

“The NET exams are now like a gamble. It seems that one does not need to have in-depth knowledge to achieve it,” expresses Nishi.

What do you think about the NET exam being just a gamble? Let us know in the Comments section.