Mr Ankit Kapoor, Co-founder & Director, Pratham Test Prep
Pertaining to the fact that scoring high in board exams may not necessarily translate into knowledge, top universities across the globe prefer to conduct entrance exams as the sole criteria or a mix of entrance and merit for admissions. While it was announced that CLAT will conduct the exam for the academic session 2022 and 2023 in 2022 itself, the Government of India suggested to conduct a common exam for admissions to all the central universities.
Being one of the major reforms introduced to the Indian Education system in the recent times, the Central Universities common entrance test (CUCET) is an All-India test for admission various Under-graduate/Integrated, Post-Graduate and research programs in Central/State Universities of India. Having a major change in this academic year, CUCET has been named the common entrance test for admissions to 41 central universities including JNU, DU and BHU.
Why CUCET is important?
The current situation of the ongoing pandemic has not only created an ambiguous situation for the students but also for the institutions across India. While the families are worried about the spread of infection, students are muddled about the current change in the admission criteria at the undergraduate level in different universities. The pressure is mounting and with every passing day, the students are getting restless.
It is very vital for the following reasons:
The rising cut-offs of the universities create unnecessary pressure on the students – The rising cut-offs over the years have created a tough situation for the students. The constant pressure to excel and achieve a high percentage creates a lot of stress and anxiety.
Equal Opportunities to all the students- Everyone will agree to the point that marks cannot be the sole criteria to assess anyone’s knowledge. The education system of India has certain loopholes that cannot be overlooked. The marking scheme is not uniform and some students may not be good when it comes to marks but score high on Aptitude Test. This will enable everyone to have a level playing field. This will also motivate them to put their best foot forward.
This will enable the students to understand the importance of APTITUDE BUILDING and will make them market-ready- The recommendation of the new education policy emphasizes the importance of Aptitude Building. The corporates also are looking for candidates with good aptitude and analytical skills.
The quality of students will get enhanced- Over the years it is been observed that students are just running after marks without realizing the importance of concepts and knowledge of the subject domain. This shift will enable the colleges and the universities to select good students based on both Subject-based Knowledge and Aptitude Knowledge.
This will aim to give students holistic development- It is required that the students and the institutes understand the need for holistic development. These days the changing trends in the recruitment industry show that the company is looking for multi-tasking in the candidates. The candidate needs to be ready for any situation and should be able to tackle it with ease using his/her analytical skills.
While the entrance exams ensure a level playing field for the candidates, it also implies an equal opportunity for all, to gauge the capabilities of the individual. Since the current problem is not only faced by the students who are in anticipation of the exam, but also for the universities across, who are indecisive on the structure of their admission process.
The marking scheme will be a correct response gets 4 marks; each incorrect response gets a negative 1 mark. The proposed common entrance test CUCET was suggested on the recommendation of the New Education Policy (NEP).
It is the need of the hour to introduce a common admission test for all the universities. It is very vital pertaining to the fact that the rising cut offs of the universities have created unnecessary pressure on the students, and a common entrance at this point will allow equal opportunities to all the students. This will enhance the quality of the students and enable them to understand the importance of aptitude building and will make them market-ready.
