Jagannath University edges closer to moving away from cluster exams

The university authorities formed an independent admission committee to move ahead with their plans

Jagannath University Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 April 2023, 03:53 PM
Updated : 6 April 2023, 03:53 PM

Jagannath University has formed an admission committee to organise entrance exams separately in another step away from the cluster system.

After a meeting of the university’s academic council on Thursday, the university’s Treasurer Kamaluddin Ahmed, said: “The deans have been given the responsibility. They will carry out all activities for the tests and then report to the central committee.”

He also said the committee approved a syndicate meeting on Apr 8.

At a time when the other public universities of the country are making plans for cluster exams, the teachers of Jagannath University are looking to pull out of the system.

Jagannath University has used the cluster system since it was introduced in the academic year 2020-21 to avoid the sufferings of applicants during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jagannath University Teachers’ Association has strongly demanded that they be allowed to evaluate candidates differently because they say students admitted through the cluster system are not up to the standard of merit.

They claim the individual exams were very competitive before, but now the merit list does not fill up the requisite seats. The university authorities also feared the possibility of session jams.

To uphold the university's " identity ", the teachers approached the vice-chancellor on Monday for a notice to carry out independent admission exams. They spoke about “receiving assurances” that their demands would be fulfilled by Apr 10.

At a meeting to set up the policies for organising individual exams by the University Grants Commission, Education Minister Dipu Moni asked for a singular entrance exam to be set for all public universities from the 2023-24 academic year.

She stressed that the process would not hurt the identity, independence or autonomy of any university and said it was being arranged in the interest of students and parents.

On Mar 15, the academic council of Jagannath University decided to move away from the cluster exam method. Five days later, the UGC said there was “no scope” to step out of the system.