Several candidates who took the UGC-NET have expressed frustration after the Ministry of Education announced the exam’s cancellation on June 19, just a day after it was conducted across the country in two shifts. Many candidates question the credibility of the entrance exam following the development. Many student bodies such as the Student Federation of India (SFI) and the Student Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) have also demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Others, such as the All India Students Association (AISA) and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) are heavily criticising the move and protesting the decision.
In its support, the ministry cited that the integrity of the exam has been compromised and that a fresh exam will be conducted.
UGC-NET is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the decision comes at a time when the NTA is already entangled in NEET-UG 2024 controversy.
Several candidates expressed frustration while talking to The Free Press Journal about their experience.
“I am disheartened by this decision. The exam centre was 25 km away from my hometown in Cuttack, Odisha. Despite being a developed area, the centre was set away. I had to travel in the scorching heat to appear for the exam and also paid an amount of Rs 1,150 to appear in the pen-to-paper mode and this is the result,” said Aaliya Meraj who took the exam for the position of assistant professor and junior research fellowship (JRF). Meraj added, “NTA is unable to handle the responsibility. Previously, it was NEET and now NET. Cancellation of exams is not the right decision, they should instead take action against those behind this.”
Another candidate, Rishita Sharma, an assistant professor who took the exam for the position of JRF and PhD criticised the pattern of this year’s exam and said, “The whole exam was made up of mugged-up answers and chronology-based questions”. She alleged the exam at her Jaipur centre was conducted haphazardly.
“Students were allowed entry even when they entered late in the examination hall. The heat was also unbearable. The OMR sheet-based exam also took up a lot of our time which was not the case in pen-to-paper mode,” Sharma claimed. Sharma added that after going through this turmoil, she will have to sit for the exam again for which she will have to again take leave from her job.
Similar sentiment was echoed by Tulika Ganguly who took the exam for PhD admissions. Ganguly pointed out that they switched the exam from CBT to OMR mode without allocating additional time and keeping the exam pattern the same.
“I'm one of the NET aspirants, and despite having cleared it once before last December, UGC's recent guidelines regarding the inadmissibility of NET results before June 2024 for PhD admissions and the removal of RET exams made it mandatory to retake NET for PhD in central universities. Now, they have cancelled the exam after we paid so much in travel and other related expenses to take the exam,” she added.
“The students who prepared well and gave their best are mentally harassed. The NTA must consider the fact that many travelled from far away to reach their centre and not everyone is financially stable,” said Vishaw Bharti, whose exam centre in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur area was not easily accessible. Bharti added that if question papers of such major exams are getting leaked in the country, no one will have faith in the government.
Another candidate, Anjali Shivcharan Dhakad said that the cancellation of exams will cause interruption in academic progress. “The cancellation of UGC NET will defer opportunities for fellowship and teaching posts. Multiple postponements in scheduling may cause confusion and stress, which ultimately could destroy students’ motivation as well as their planned activities,” she said.
