Hyderabad: UoH Students Oppose NET for PhD

Hyderabad: Following the University of Hyderabad's (UoH) decision to abolish entrance exams for PhD admissions in favour of National Eligibility Test (NET) scores, announced on May 6, several students have voiced strong objections. The decision came after the recent University Grants Commission (UGC) notification that the UGC-NET 2024 score can be used for PhD admissions instead of entrance tests conducted by individual universities.

Students have labelled the decision as 'arbitrary and unjust,' arguing that it undermines academic freedom, perpetuates inequalities, and introduces significant confusion. Students argue that the decision to prepare a single rank list from scores of different NET exams is bound to be arbitrary and unfair.

Concerns about the reliability of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NET, have also been raised. "Ever since its inception, the NTA has been inefficient, unreliable, and incompetent. Past exams managed by NTA have been known for delays in result publication, inadequate grievance redressal, and unsatisfactory handling of admissions," said Hritik, general secretary of the Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA). "To allow our academic calendar and research standards to be hostage to exams conducted by NTA seems irresponsible and shortsighted," he added.

A student, Prajwal G, while speaking to Deccan Chronicle, mentioned that the issue has been taken up with the Academic Council, where authorities are said to have assured students that the decision will be reconsidered and deferred to departments concerned.

The university, with an intake of 355 seats, has announced PhD admissions for 43 courses for the academic year 2024-25 on May 6. Except for eight programmes, admissions in all other programmes is said to be based on NET scores including social science, humanities, management studies and computer science streams.

UoH will conduct its own entrance tests for other PhD admissions including applied linguistics, translation studies, optometry & vision sciences, nanoscience and technology, materials engineering, regional studies, English language studies, and neural and cognitive science.