Students protest at UGC office

June 16, 2017 01:04 am | Updated 01:04 am IST - New Delhi

Students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and MG University (Haryana), among others, protested outside the office of the University Grants Commission (UGC) here on Thursday.

The students have demanded immediate restoration of the biannual cycle of the UGC-NET exam, asking that it be held twice a year as per existing norms.

Uproar over notification

The protesters said that a notification dated June 6 published by the CBSE had informed them that the NET exam would be held on November 19. This, they said, meant that the exam scheduled for July was being skipped.

“This move will gravely scuttle opportunities for students trying to get into teaching or aspiring to pursue higher research. With lesser and lesser students qualifying the NET every year, the number of junior research fellowships will also decrease. This is nothing but an attempt to impose a fellowship cut in higher education,” said the students.

All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president, Sucheta De, said, “The June 6 notification is clear backstabbing by the government. In April, the UGC had said that it would conduct the NET exam as usual, with a delay of two weeks at the most. Now, it has come up with a notification that skips the July exam. This is an attack on students aspiring for higher education.”

DU faces flak too

The students also protested Delhi University’s announcement that admission to M.Phil and Ph.D courses would be based on interviews, with the written examination being just a qualifier. According to the students, the decision hasn’t been ratified by DU’s academic and executive councils.

Earlier, admission to Ph.D courses was based on 85% weightage to written examination and 15% to interview, while for M.Phil it was 30% for marks obtained in Master’s degree, 15% for interview and 55% for written test.

The students, who have demanded that arbitrary changes to the admission process be withdrawn, said that the move would affect a large section of students from marginalised sections and vernacular language backgrounds.

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