JNU online exams: written test to be held at interview stage

To conduct mock tests to make aspirants familiar with process

With entrance examinations for the various programmes at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) set to go online for the 2019-20 academic session, the administration on Monday said that certain departments will have the option of taking a written examination to assess the “qualitative acumen” of MPhil and PhD aspirants, at the viva voce stage.

“While the multiple choice questions will test the range of knowledge, acumen to analyse and reason will be tested in the written examination, which is optional for the various centres to conduct. Out of the 30 marks assigned to viva voce, 15 marks will be allotted to the written examination,” said JNU Rector-I Chintamani Mahapatra.

Non-discriminatory

With “last week of May” being the tentative period for the entrance examination to be carried out, officials also said that the online mode is being adopted by the varsity to make the admission process “non-discriminatory”.

“The issue of discrimination was raised by students itself. We want to provide a level-playing field for all aspirants and there should be objectivity in evaluation. The online examination will also help in timely declaration of results,” Mr. Mahapatra added.

Training sessions

Responding to concerns raised about the online entrance examinations, JNU administration officials said, “We will be conducting mock tests for students to make them familiar with the process. Additionally, an hour before the exam, training sessions will be carried out for the aspirants.”

“It is not the first time that some university is adopting the online mode of entrance examination. The guidelines provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) mention 70% weightage for online examination and 30% weightage to the interview/viva voce. With the option of conducting written examination, we have tried to make it non-discriminatory,” said Mr. Mahapatra.

The administration, last year had announced that the entrance examination for the upcoming academic session will be shifted to the online mode. However, the JNU Students’ Union had opposed the move stating that the new mode would “defeat the comprehensive evaluation policy of subjective papers”.