NEW DELHI: The Union education ministry is to convene a meeting of the vice- chancellors of central universities to discuss, among other agendas, the implementation of the Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET) this week.
The ministry will also announce the new dates for JEE (Main) of April and May cycles and NEET-UG within the next 15 days.
Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country, the JEE (Main) exams were postponed.
NEET-UG has been scheduled for August 1.
However, the National Testing Agency didn’t start the registration process due to the lockdown.
Following the cancellation of the class XII exams by most of the national, state and private boards, the higher education institutions, while waiting for the board’s decision to announce their assessment policy, are also looking at alternative options over concerns of “evaluation disparity”.
The discussion on CUCET indicates that the government is thinking of reviving the implementation plan which was kept at abeyance due to the surge of Covid-19 cases across the country.
“The cancellation of the class XII exams of the CBSE was done keeping in view the pandemic situation.
However, that raised concerns over the disparity in evaluation of the class XII results as they will be based on assessments at school level.
The ministry is going to take up the matter with the VCs of central universities and discuss implementation of CUCET and term-end exams in HEIs.
The meeting is likely to be convened this week, which however depends on the availability of the minister,” said a senior official at the MoE.
Ministry officials, while indicating that though NEET-UG is likely to be postponed to a later date, said the JEE (Main) and NEET-UG will not be cancelled.
“There is no question of cancelling these exams.
However, a review will be taken either this week or the next and new dates will be announced in the next 15 days depending on the Covid situation.
The delay in these competitive exams will also adversely affect the admission cycle,” said the MoE official.
While the February and March cycles of JEE (Main) were conducted successfully, the NTA postponed the April and May cycles following a surge in Covid-19 cases.