Student unions oppose decision to make NET compulsory for PhD admissions

Anshita Mehra

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New Delhi, April 24

Left-aligned student unions, including the AISA, the SFI and the JNUSU, staged a protest at the headquarters of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the national capital on Wednesday.

They voiced their opposition to the UGC’s recent notice, making the National Eligibility Test (NET) mandatory for PhD admissions across universities. The protesters argued that the UGC’s directive threatened the autonomy of institutions and limited opportunities for students to qualify for PhD admissions.

Many universities conduct their own entrance tests, tailored to their academic ethos, but the centralised mandate could eliminate these university-specific tests, they stated.

An SFI member said, “The UGC’s notice allocates 70 per cent weightage to the NET score and only 30 per cent to the interview for PhD admissions. No weightage has been given to the research proposal, which traditionally forms the core of PhD admissions.”

The student party said the move could diminish the importance of research proposals in the admissions process, leading to a potential decline in the academic quality.

JNUSU General Secretary Priyanshi Arya said, “The validity of the NET certificate has been reduced from two years to just one year. This will limit the opportunities for aspiring researchers, forcing them to focus on the entrance test preparations rather than the research proposals.”

“The UGC’s notification also remains ambiguous about the eligibility of students, who have already qualified NET, for upcoming PhD interviews,” Arya said.

The student unions demanded that the newly introduced third category should not be used to reduce the number of students qualifying for assistant professorship and junior research fellowship positions.

They called for a revision in the mode of examination and the reinstatement of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) scholarship and the enactment of the Rohith Act. They vowed to continue their protests until the UGC and other relevant authorities address their demands.