EduCare News: How to do PhD in subjects in which there is no NET; JNUSU President Dhananjay said- importance of universities will decrease.

University Grants Commission (UGC) has changed the criteria for PhD admission. It will be necessary to appear for the National Eligibility Test (NET) for admission to the PhD program from the academic session 2024-25. These criteria will also be applicable in the NET exam to be held in June this year. JNU Students Union has condemned this decision of UGC. JNU SU President Dhananjay also said that this will reduce the importance of universities.

How to get PhD in subjects in which there is no UGC NET?
Student Union says that there is no separate UGC NET exam for subjects like Korean and Labor Studies. How will such students do PhD after NET is made mandatory for admission in PhD? Actually, NTA conducts UGC NET exam in total 83 subjects. However, separate exams are not conducted for subjects like Korean Language and Labor Studies.

Admission in PhD program will be available on the basis of UGC NET score.
According to the new circular of UGC, now admission to PhD program will not be available through the PhD entrance test conducted at the university level. At the same time, universities will not be able to conduct separate entrance tests for admission to PhD programmes.

Now you can take admission in PhD in universities only on the basis of NET score. Selection for JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) and Assistant Professor will also be done through this score. On the basis of this score, you will be able to apply for admission in PhD program in any university for 1 year.

After NET result, students will be divided into three categories on the basis of score:

Category 1: Appointment as Assistant Professor with JRF

Category 2: Appointment as PhD and Assistant Professor

Category 3: Admission in PhD

Students will not have to give separate entrance exams
By taking admission in PhD program only through NET, students will not have to appear for different PhD entrance exams of different universities. This will also save the fees charged for exam registration. Having a common exam under the National Education Policy (NEP, 2020) will make the admission process easier and students will not need to appear for exams again and again.

You will get a chance to take admission twice a year
Actually, state universities conduct entrance exams once a year whereas NET is conducted twice a year. With this, students will get opportunities for PhD admission twice a year. Percentile will also be released along with marks in NET result.

70% weightage to NET score in admission, 30% to interview.
Till now, admissions to only 60% seats were done on the basis of NET score. For admission to the remaining seats, it was necessary to appear in the university entrance exam. Now it will be necessary to qualify NET for PhD admission. After changing the admission process, now candidates eligible for PhD after giving NET will be given 70% weightage in test score in admission and 30% weightage in interview. JRF qualified candidates will be selected through interview only.

Students will have limited options to do PhD: SFI
While issuing a statement on PhD admission through NET, Students Federation of India (SFI) said that making NET compulsory for PhD and not having university level entrance will have a negative impact on the independence of higher education institutes and universities. Apart from this, students will have only one way to get admission in PhD program – qualifying NET. Now they will not have as many options as before.

Less time will be available to work on research proposal
SFI also said that with NET scores being valid for only 1 year, students will get less time to apply for PhD and work on their research proposals. While talking about this, JNU Student Union said that this step of UGC is not in favor of the students.

UGC NET is not conducted in subjects like Korean Language, Labor Studies
Students say that NET exams are not conducted in some subjects. In such a situation, students have to apply for NET after doing Masters in some other subject. At present, UGC NET exam is not conducted in subjects like Korean Language and Labor Studies.

In such a situation, these students will have to take admission in PhD by giving NET exam in any related subject like Sociology and Economics. UGC has issued this circular ignoring the needs of the students.

JNU Student Union has also expressed displeasure over the test conducting capacity of NTA. The union says that NTA is conducting UGC NET since December 2018. Since then, there have been allegations of paper leakage and irregularities in the exams conducted by NTA.