Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit announced on Monday that the much-reputed Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi will conduct its PhD entrance examination, starting next academic year. The exams are to be conducted three years after the responsibility was outsourced to the National Testing Agency (NTA).
For the past years, the entrance examinations for postgraduate programs including PhD program have been conducted by the National Testing Agency only. The students and teachers of JNU have been demanding that the university authorities must take back the responsibility of conducting the entrance examination.
Regarding this program, the vice-chancellor of the university also mentioned that the majority were in favour that the university should resume taking admission through the previous pattern only.
“We will go back to Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examination (JNUEE) for PhD admission as the majority opinion is that for PhD, critical analysis is important; MCQ does not allow that.”, Santishree D Pandit said during a press conference.
The candidates who were seeking admission into the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in the university were earlier tested based on a computer-based exam.
Teachers and students highlighted their problems, over the last year, with the NTA-led examinations.
The Teachers’ Association of Jawaharlal Nehru University also claimed that these prestigious programmes were being administered with appalling shabbiness.
The Students’ Association of the university has been sharing the same opinion in this regard. They also staged a demonstration in which they demanded that the university must restore its academic autonomy and hence it must take back the responsibility of conducting its entrance examinations.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
A PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) is a doctoral research degree and one of the highest levels of academic qualification a student can achieve. A PhD degree normally takes between three and four years of full-time work to complete. Students research and write a thesis offering an original contribution to their subject. The completion of a PhD is often a requirement for employment as a university professor, researcher, or scientist in many fields.
The website of JNU says that Master’s Degree Holders who have adequate research experience and publications and also M.Phil. Degree holders are eligible for admission but only if they have scored a minimum of 55 per cent marks or equivalent grades, according to UGC guidelines.
While for the continuation of the program in the university, PhD scholars need to obtain a minimum of 55 per cent of marks or its equivalent grade in the UGC 7-point scale in the course work to be eligible to continue in the programme and submit the dissertation/thesis.
In many universities, a candidate is required to defend his/her work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university.
