Subhas Sarkar, the Union minister of state for education, declared that the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) was conducted without any hindrance and did not cause any disruption in the academic schedules of the central universities.
Deepak Baij, a member of the Indian National Congress and Lok Sabha, accused the delays surrounding CUET as the cause of students having a hard time getting into central universities due to its frequent cancellations. To this, Sarkar stated that there was no solid evidence that CUET was having a negative impact on students.
The adversaries declared that the expense of education has increased since CUET was established. To this, Sarkar responded by saying that the cost of obtaining a degree has actually escalated; however, the students could use one form and pay one fee to apply to multiple universities, leading to a decrease in the cost and effort required to gain admission to universities.
Sarkar strongly defended the government’s actions, stressing the enormity of the CUET examinations and the challenges posed by geographical and climatic conditions. He noted that the exams were taken by 14,90,293 applicants who requested 54,555 individual subject combinations from 90 universities.
He provided an illustration of the Delhi University enrollment process and how the school year began sooner than it did the year before. He noted, “The final deadlines for admissions to the University of Delhi for the past three years have been: 31.08.2019 (2019-20), 15.01.2021 (2020-21), and 31.12.2021 (2021-22).”
Sarkar announced that a panel of experts made up of professors from IITs and other central universities has been set up to come up with ideas on how to administer the CUET in the years to come. 14.9 lakh people registered for CUET for undergraduate admissions into all central universities, making it the second biggest entrance exam in India, beating the JEE-Mains.
