127k candidates apply for CUET in first week
NEW DELHI: A total of 127, 037 candidates have applied for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) during the first week of registration process, with maximum applicants belonging to Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar, officials in the education ministry familiar with the development said.
At least 18 more universities and institutes, besides 45 central universities, have also adopted the test, they added.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is slated to conduct the computer-based exam CUET for admission to undergraduate courses in the first week of July. The Centre last month announced it will conduct CUET, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and made its score a mandatory yardstick for all central universities.
The exam, however, is voluntary for state-run, private and deemed-to-be universities and institutes. The registration process for the exam began on April 6 (11:50 pm) and will continue till May 6. According to the officials cited above, as many as 127, 037 candidates applied for the exam till April 13. Data provided by NTA showed most of the applications received were from Uttar Pradesh (36,611), followed by Delhi (23,418), Bihar (12,275), Haryana (7,859), West Bengal (4,496), Madhya Pradesh (4,402) and Rajasthan (3,886).
Among southern states, the maximum applications received so far were from Kerala (3,987), followed by Tamil Nadu (2,143), Telangana (1,807), Andhra Pradesh (1022) and Karnataka (901). In the case of northeastern states, most of the applicants belong to Assam (2,485) and Tripura (1,134).
“We are expecting the applications to increase by eight times by the end of the registration process. We would like to reiterate that CUET won’t put any student at a disadvantage. It will provide equal opportunity to everyone. Those who have not studied NCERT syllabus in class 12 will also be able to crack it since the syllabus of the majority of the state boards have topics which are 80-90% similar to those of NCERT,” a senior official in the ministry said, seeking anonymity.
The official was referring to apprehensions by stakeholders that the adoption of the NCERT syllabus for CUET will result in the growth of the coaching business.
The lowest number of applications were received from Lakshadweep (5), Daman and Diu (27), Goa (42), Sikkim (74) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (84) so far, officials said.
Meanwhile, 18 more higher education institutions/universities, including both private and staterun, have adopted CUET, in addition to the 45 central universities. These included BR Ambedkar University in Delhi, Galgotias University in NCR, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai and Jagannath University in Haryana.