NET MAY BE HELD JUST ONCE A YEAR DUE TO POOR RESPONSE

NEWDELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to conduct the National Eligibility Test (NET) annually, rather than twice in a year, sources said.

Putting an end to speculations over conducting NET, the University Grants Commission (UGC) said CBSE will continue to conduct the exam, even though the board had earlier expressed its inability to do so.

The exam is held twice a year — July and December — for the grant of junior research fellowship and eligibility for assistant professorship in universities and colleges. The CBSE is likely to issue a notification in this regard.

Sources said looking at the poor response to the test — 6.5 lakh students register for the exam on an average and approximately 1.5 lakh take it, with a passing percentage of only 3.9% — the CBSE suggested conducting it just once.

However, a final decision on the matter is yet to be taken.

“CBSE has agreed to conduct the exam till the National Testing Service is formed, which will start conducting all competitive examinations. But CBSE has conveyed it to the UGC that the exam should be conducted once a year as a lot of time and energy is spent on organising it and few people take it,” said a source.

Qualification in NET is a must for recruitment of teachers in colleges and universities.

The CBSE wrote to the human resource development ministry in September last year, complaining that asking it to conduct various examinations that are outside its purview was creating an “extraneous burden” on it. The NET was conducted by the UGC till 2014, following which it was handed over to the CBSE.

Several students had protested outside the UGC last week, demanding that the uncertainty over the exam be cleared and a notification be issued in the regard.

6.5 LAKH STUDENTS REGISTER FOR THE EXAM ON AN AVERAGE AND APPROXIMATELY 1.5 LAKH TAKE IT, WITH A PASSING PERCENTAGE OF ONLY 3.9%