The India-Wide Parents Association (IWPA) has written a letter to the Ministry of Education, National Testing Agency (NTA), and University Grants Commission (UGC) requesting not to hold a re-exam of the UGC NET June session which was conducted across the country on June 18.
UGC-NET is a test to determine the eligibility for the assistant professor post as well as a junior research fellowship in Indian universities.
In the letter, the Association asks the concerned authorities to release the result of UGC NET as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has ruled out any paper leak. They contend that conducting a re-exam will be unjustified and an injustice to lakhs of candidates.
“These aspirants have already cleared the exam without any unfair means as investigated by CBI that there was no leak and recently government took a call to not cancel the NEET UG exam even when leaks happened at some places. Due to such decisions, lakhs of students are suffering mentally and physically,” read a statement from the letter.
The CBI probe into the alleged UGC-NET paper leak has found that the “evidence”, which led the Education Ministry to cancel the exam just a day after over 9 lakh candidates appeared for it across 317 cities on June 18, was doctored, government sources told The Indian Express.
On June 19, the Centre cancelled the exam crucial for entry-level teaching jobs and PhD admissions in Indian universities, following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.
Meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is considering a return to its traditional in-house entrance examinations for PhD admissions, potentially ending the responsibility of conducting the test outsourced with the National Testing Agency (NTA). Official sources have confirmed to The Indian Express that it will take 8 weeks to reach to the final decision.