Changing the Admissions Landscape
Imagine missing out on your dream college/university seat by a gap of 0.25 marks!All the hard work you had put inin Class XII to get a score that makes you eligible foradmission into a prestigious college of a Central University, goes in vain in a matter of seconds.
And if you are studying under a State Board, where getting high scores is quite difficult, admission in a big college is usually a bridge too far. More often than not, students of State Boards would rather settle for a college in their vicinity that they might not have preferred otherwise.
You are not alone. This is the problem majority of students face every year. The ever-rising cut-offs have not only worsenedthe situation,but have also led to immense pressure on the minds of students while they are Class XII.
Here’s some great news!CUCET has come to your rescue!
The Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET), envisaged under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will, once and for all, change the way one views admissions to Central Universities in India. CUCET aims to provide a level playing field for students who could not get accustomed to the rote-learning methodology, or had a bad day in one of the Board exams papers. Towards this end, admissions to the 54 Central Universities will now be conducted through a common entrance exam, rather than on merit, which encourages rote learning.
The proposed CUCET, by the Ministry of Education, is set to empower students not only by testing their interest and aptitude, but will also allow them to improve their scores in the entrance exam. This is because the entrance test will be conducted twice a year, unlike thecurrent merit-based admissions system that is held only once.
Today, majority of the Education Boards have adopted a lenient marking system to compete in the admissions space in higher education. This has not helped the students, who are often left wondering about the ever-rising cut offs.
Entrance tests bring parity; and provide students with equal opportunities. Unlike Board Exams, where how one fares depends to a certain extent on luck (for instance, the paper-checker’s mood), aptitude-based entrance tests (offline or online) record the responses in real time, and do not discriminate (or inflate) the number of responses at one’s discretion.
While the exact details of the proposed CUCET is still being worked upon by a government-constituted committee, this much is certain that the entrance test will evaluate aptitude and subject knowledge, depending on the course being opted for. Aptitude is already integral to majority of entrance exams, be it SAT, CAT, or IPMAT.
Moreover, by being conducted twice a year, CUCET will allow the test-takers to improve their scores, thus helping them in increasing their chances of selection. It will also bring down the number of applications one has to fill, the fee, and the logistics cost. The time and effort saved can be better utilizedtowards preparing for the Common Entrance Exam.
The game is set to change. The world is your playground now!
Stay tuned for more updates; and do read our previous blog on CUCET here