JNU Admissions: Interview to be given Priority over Written Test

In a new, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will conduct admissions on the basis of an interview from the next academic session. The entrance exam will now just be a qualifying examination in which the students will have to secure a minimum of 50% aggregate marks.

As per reports, the academic council (AC) approved a notification gazetted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the procedure and eligibility for admissions to M.Phil and PhD courses. JNU registrar Pramod Kumar said that the students who qualify the entrance examination will be eligible for the interview. The final admission will be on the basis of the interview.

Kumar admitted that the students and faculty members have asked the university to approach the UGC, seeking clarity on the new system. Officials from JNU said the new UGC rule would apply to all the universities across India.

Under the current system, 70% weightage is given to the written test and 30% weightage is given to the interview. This decision has come at a time when the students’ union has demanded to reduce the weightage given to the interview. JNU's Students' Union (JNUSU) president Mohit Pandey said that most students belong to the marginalised and deprived sections of the society. Therefore, there is a scope of bias at the time of the interviews. He said that the union has requested the university to reduce the interview's weightage from 30% to 15%. However, he added that this move will change the character of the university and the decision will amount to a major disaster.

However, the students' proposal was claimed as false by the AC members since no discussion had taken place over the issue.