CUET-JEE-NEET merger: UGC chief gives update, says ‘Won't hurry up things, need to…’

After the University Grants Commission recently proposed merging country’s three top undergraduate examinations into one, UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar provided the latest update on the timeline of the plan. 

"As per the NEP, the plan is to have a common entrance exam to reduce the burden on students of appearing in multiple entrances. However, we won't hurry up to introduce it as we need to plan well. It is a massive exercise," the UGC Chairman was quoted as saying on the plan to merge CUET with JEE, NEET.

Kumar further elaborated that modalities are yet to be worked out and an expert panel will study key entrance exams in India, abroad. On timeline of the proposed merger, he said that "An expert committee will be set up by end of this month. It will study all important entrance exams being conducted in the country as well as abroad. If we have to introduce the exam next year, the preparation has to start now considering the massive exercise and the different disciplines involved."

"There also has to be a consensus among stakeholders and the two main issues we need to address is the syllabus as well as the difficulty level as each discipline has its own peculiarities," he said.

While CUET-UG fourth phase is set to start from Wednesday, the exams debut edition that kicked off in July has been marred with glitches. This prompted the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel exams at multiple centres. 

On this affecting CUET, Kumar said, “The technical glitches in initial phases of CUET-UG are not setbacks but lessons. They will be ironed out in the near future and will in no way deter scaling up or expansion plans for the crucial exam.”

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(With inputs from PTI)