UGC's Push For Pen-Paper NET, CUET-UG Now Under Scanner

NEW DELHI: National Testing Agency (NTA) late on Friday announced new dates for three exams: National Common Entrance Test (NCET), University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), and Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-UGC-NET. All these exams will be conducted as computer-based tests (CBT).UGC’s Push For Pen-Paper

This raises the question: why were UGC-NET and Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG), overseen by UGC and administered by NTA, shifted to pen-paper and hybrid (partially pen-paper) modes respectively? Ministry of education as well as seven-member exam reform panel are reviewing these changes made “at the insistence of UGC”, reported.

Investigations into the alleged Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 paper leak cases revealed security breaches during transportation of question papers.

This has led to scrutiny of NTA, which was established to conduct “high-quality” exams digitally with minimal human interference and in collaboration with a credible technology partner.An NTA source stated, “UGC insisted on making CUET-UG hybrid or pen-paper in 2023 itself.

However, NTA disagreed and conducted the exam in CBT mode. The first edition faced a lot of criticism due to technical glitches, and in 2023, it was conducted over a month. UGC’s Push For Pen-Paper

However, like JEE (Main), the exam’s integrity was not questioned and there were no technical glitches. With change of leadership in NTA last year, UGC once again wanted the exam to be conducted in hybrid mode, with papers for a large number of candidates delivered in pen-paper mode.”Despite criticism over delays, glitches, and centres lacking basic amenities, NTA has been “performing adequately with computer-based JEE (Main) and UGC-NET since 2018,” according to a senior MoE official. Official added, “It is intriguing that UGC reportedly wanted UGC-NET to be in pen-paper mode, and this decision by the commission also needs to be questioned.”

This has led to scrutiny of NTA, which was established to conduct “high-quality” exams digitally with minimal human interference and in collaboration with a credible technology partner. An NTA source stated, “UGC insisted on making CUET-UG hybrid or pen-paper in 2023 itself.

An NTA source stated, “UGC insisted on making CUET-UG hybrid or pen-paper in 2023 itself. However, NTA disagreed and conducted the exam in CBT mode. The first edition faced a lot of criticism due to technical glitches, and in 2023, it was conducted over a month. However, like JEE (Main), the exam’s integrity was not questioned and there were no technical glitches. With change of leadership in NTA last year, UGC once again wanted the exam to be conducted in hybrid mode, with papers for a large number of candidates delivered in pen-paper mode.”Despite criticism over delays, glitches, and centres lacking basic amenities, NTA has been “performing adequately with computer-based JEE (Main) and UGC-NET since 2018,” according to a senior MoE official. Official added, “It is intriguing that UGC reportedly wanted UGC-NET to be in pen-paper mode, and this decision by the commission also needs to see and control.UGC’s Push For Pen-Paper