In a meeting held on the 22nd of November, 2022 the vice-chancellors 41 central universities decided on the NET to be the route for Ph.D. admissions. Currently, the central universities — as also the state-run universities — hold their own written entrance tests and interviews for Ph.D. admissions. Now the central universities have decided to admit Ph.D. scholars through the all-India National Eligibility Test (NET) instead of their own individual entrance exams.
As per the official letter released by UGC, University Grants Commission has directed the Central Universities to prepare for the Common Entrance Test (CET) for the academic year 2022-23 admissions to various undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses. The commission has also informed that on the basis of the National Eligibility Test or UGC NET examination held by the National Testing Agency (NTA), admission for the Ph.D. program would be done wherever feasible.
According to some critics, a standardized test for Ph.D. admissions would hurt research quality, erode the distinctiveness of institutions’ research, and weaken the academic autonomy of an institution.
