CUET did not delay academic calendar or adversely affect studies : Subhas Sarkar

In the government’s defense, Sarkar told the Lok Sabha that CUET was conducted for approximately 14,90,293 candidates in its debut year, and these students applied for 54,555 unique combinations of subjects across 90 universities. “The scale of the test was huge and some difficulties were faced by the students due to technical and geo-climatic reasons and the test was rescheduled in such cases. However, the overall process was managed successfully,” he explained.

He dismissed the allegation that CUET has resulted in delay of academic calendar by citing Delhi University’s example and said that at the University of Delhi, the classes this year started earlier than the last year. “Last date for admissions in the University of Delhi during the last three years were as follows: 31.08.2019 (2019-20), 15.01.2021 (2020-21) and 31.12.2021 (2021-22),” he said.

The opposition also questioned whether the cost of graduation of students completing their studies through CUET has increased. Sarkar said: “There is no information that CUET has adversely affected the studies and it has resulted in cost escalation of graduation, rather the students were able to apply to more than one university with single form and fee. This has resulted in saving on cost and effort needed to secure admission in the universities,” he explained.

Sarkar also intimated that a committee of experts consisting of professors of IITs and central universities has been constituted to suggest measures for the conduction of CUET in the following years.

This was the first time CUET was conducted all over the country. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had made it compulsory for all central universities to adopt CUET-UG this year, and all other varsities were motivated to adopt it this year or in the near future. While CUET-PG was not compulsory for all, some universities adopted it as an entrance exam for postgraduate courses this year, and a few others have plans of adopting it the next year.