By Vishu Adhana
New Delhi: The cancellation of UGC-NET exams and delay in CUET UG result announcement have jeopardized Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) academic calendars, said Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit on Friday.
Speaking to ANI, Santishree denied reports that the university will shorten winter break and hold extra classes in view of delayed admission, stating that no decision has been taken in this regard.
"JNU faculty will decide how they manage the three different academic calendars (for UG courses, PG courses and PhD programmes)," she said.
"I hope that UGC NET and CUET UG results come fast because that has totally jeopardized our academic calendar so we will have three different Academy calendars, one for the Masters, one for the UG and one for the PhD. And JNU is a bottom-up approach. So it is the chairpersons, the deans who will decide how they will run these semesters," she added.
The Education Ministry late on June 19 announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination after inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs suggested that the integrity of the examinations had been compromised.
According to the NTA's information bulletin, the CUET-UG results were initially scheduled for release on June 30, but they have yet to be announced.
When asked if JNU might drop the CUET UG system, the Vice Chancellor said, "No, MA admissions are already completed, and BA admissions will go through CUET." She confirmed that classes will begin as soon as the CUET results come out.
The University was planning to start the classes in August.
When asked about communication related to the results from the National Testing Agency (which conducts CUET-UG), the vice chancellor responded in refutation.
JNU admits students to various undergraduate programs based on CUET marks, including B.A. (Hons.) in Foreign Languages and B.Sc.-M.Sc. Integrated Programmes.
The NTA is currently grappling with paper leak allegations involving NEET-UG and UGC-NET, which has delayed the CUET-UG results.
Jawaharlal Nehru University is also planning to revert to the in-house entrance, following the cancellation of the NTA-conducted exam due to integrity concerns.
The administration has asked all deans, chairpersons of special centres, and chairpersons of the centre of the School of Studies to give their consent to hold the in-house Ph. D. Entrance Examination, as per an email sent to the faculty.
They have been requested to submit their response by August 5, the email, assessed by ANI, mentions.
Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit held a meeting on July 3 (Fortnight after the Centre cancelled the UGC NET exam) with the deans and discussed the issues raised by various Schools and Centres regarding holding of JNU Entrance Examination for Ph. D. programme for the academic year 2025-2026.
—ANI
