Students of Meghalaya seeking admission for under-graduate courses in colleges affiliated to NEHU are likely to be exempted from appearing for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
Following the “positive” meeting between Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi today, it was decided to exempt colleges which are privately run or are funded and aided by the State government from CUET.
However, everything will be clearer in the coming days after an official notification is issued by either the Union Education Ministry or University Grants Commission (UGC).
Sangma who briefed about the outcome of his meeting with Pradhan said that he raised the issue “which is quite a problematic issue for a lot of colleges affiliated to NEHU in our State.”
“I expressed the concerns of our students and the different colleges. The union minister understood the issue and problems and a very positive response came from him. He has agreed that there will be certain areas where they will exempt some of our colleges which are not necessarily centrally funded and are privately run or are funded and aided by the State government. Those colleges will not have to give the exam (CUET),” Sangma said.
He also said that the State government is waiting for an official notification “which will come in a day or two”.
It may be mentioned that the UGC has made the computer-based entrance test mandatory for admissions to undergraduate courses at all 44 central universities and their affiliated colleges for the academic session 2022-23. The test will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Registration for the CUET through the National Testing Agency web portal has started since April 6 and will be open till May 6.
The date of CUET has not been released officially yet but the exam is expected to be conducted in the second week of July. There will be a general test, a language test and two domain-specific papers. Each paper will include four domain-specific subjects and an option language subject.
Since the entrance test will be based on the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)’s Class 12 syllabus, most teachers and parents in the State felt that it will be to the disadvantage of the vast majority of students studying in schools affiliated with Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) which has its own prescribed curriculum.
Many parents and teachers are worried and said that CUET will put the students, especially those from the rural areas in a difficult situation.
Students of the CBSE, which uses NCERT books, are more at an advantageous position at clearing the CUET.
The ICSE Board has different books and students from there too might be at a disadvantage. Further, the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are tricky ones and young students will find it difficult to handle such questions and may require coaching to clear the exams.
The syllabus of CUET is divided in four parts: Section IA, Section IB, Section II and Section III.
Section IA comprises Languages – Reading comprehension (based on different types of passages-factual, literary and narrative, (literary aptitude and vocabulary). Section IB is similar to Section IA.
Section II comprises Domain – MCQs based on NCERT Class XII syllabus. Section III comprises General Test – (MCQs) on general knowledge, current affairs, general mental ability, numerical ability, quantitative reasoning (Grade 8 mathematics), logical and analytical reasoning.
