Amid uncertainty, aspirants write to Delhi University against common entrance test

The aspirants said that the Central University Common Entrance Test limits programme options for students and is not in favour of those who come from underprivileged backgrounds.

While Delhi University (DU) still waits for clarification on whether common entrance tests will be allowed this year, a large number of aspirants have written to the institution against holding the examination.

CBSE has announced an alternate marks tabulation policy for Class XII students on the basis of which results are to be declared on July 31.

DU administration, however, has not come out with its undergraduate admission mechanism for this year yet. The administration had stated that it is “committed” to the Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET) but there is no clarity on whether it is going to be conducted this year.

As such, a large number of aspirants have written to the administration, arguing against the system saying that it limits programme options for students and is not in favour of those who come from underprivileged backgrounds.

“Syllabus, pattern, date, duration and mode of exam were not announced earlier. It will be tough for the students to compete in a pan-India exam without adequate preparation. Cracking any exam requires a considerable amount of time. Though there were rumours about CUCET, nothing was officially declared,” the e-mail sent to DU read.

It added, “At this stage, finding the right resources to prepare for the exam is very difficult. Only those who have access to online paid courses would be able to go on with their preparation. This is not the case with lakhs of students in the country. If the test was declared on time, it would have been okay. But at this stage, when most people do not even know about CUCET, suddenly announcing the exam would leave students with no resources to prepare particularly during these Covid times.”

They have also stated that they fear that the test might get in the way of the usual flexibility in DU admissions.

“Universities like DU has courses which are open for students who have not studied the subject before. There were no restrictions in choosing the subjects for graduation. But if one aspires to pursue a subject which he didn’t learn in Class XI and XII, then such a group of students will face problems in competing in the entrance exams where there is a subject-specific test. At this stage, we don’t think it is possible for such students to cover the curriculum and prepare for the exam. One needs to take into consideration that BA courses are open to all irrespective of the stream the student has studied,” the statement added.

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