CUCET 2021: Fate of entrance examination for central universities likely to be sealed in 15 days

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The fate of the crucial Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET) 2021 is likely to be sealed in the next 15 days.

Sources told Moneycontrol that the Ministry of Education has called for a meeting with 41 central universities to discuss the examination and conduct it amidst COVID-19 and modalities.

This meeting could be held in the third week of June 2021.

"There is a lack of consensus on whether the entrance exam should be held this year or not. So, there will be more clarity once the meeting concludes. Many universities want to follow their own merit-based admission system for their courses," said the vice chancellor of a central university.

In December 2020, a committee of the University Grants Commission (UGC) had recommended that there should be a high-quality aptitude test conducted for admission into all the central universities.

CUCET is part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, where the Ministry of Education had proposed a single entrance exam on the basis of an aptitude test by the National Testing Agency.

This would be over and above the Class XII marks so that students could be tested on whether they are fit for the courses they apply to.

Once the decision is taken by the universities, CUCET 2021 admission details will be issued by the central government.

Students will have to select the courses they wish to apply for and the universities that they are interested in.

If there is a consensus on holding the exam this year, sources said that the CUCET 2021 will be applicable only for under-graduate courses.

"Having a single exam like CUCET 2021 exam will be beneficial for students because with one application form, they can apply to multiple universities," said a government official.

There will be two parts to the CUCET test: an aptitude-section and a subject-specific section. Each section will have 50 questions each. It will be a three-hour exam.

The Central Universities Common Entrance Test is an all-India test, organized for admission to various integrated/under-graduate, post-graduate and research programmes in several Central Universities and state universities of India.