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Education News

early 20th centuries rightly prided itself on high academic THEY SAID IT
standards and intellectual attainments.
Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)
“All of us who believe in @INCIndia are
TAMIL NADU hurting from the results of the recent
CUET outrage assembly elections. It is time to reaffirm the
idea of India that the Congress has stood for
and the positive agenda it offers the nation -
HE ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE UNIVERSITY and to reform our organisational leadership
Grants Commission (UGC) of the Central Uni- in a manner that will reignite those ideas and
Tversities Entrance Test (CUET) as mandatory for inspire the people.”
admission into all undergraduate programmes of the Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP, on the Congress party’s
country’s 45 highly-prized Central universities from defeat in the assembly elections in five states (March
the start of this academic year 2022-23, has provoked 10, twitter.com)
strong opposition in Tamil Nadu (pop.79 million). The
state’s political class across the spectrum and academ-
ics have strongly opposed CUET on the ground that it “Online education is the new avatar of
favours privileged students from urban backgrounds disaster capitalism... Despite the devastating
and will deprive underprivileged and rural students digital divide, ignoring that education is
from accessing Central universities and their blue-chip essentially a social process, UGC approved
affiliated undergrad colleges such as St. Stephen’s, Shri 350 online courses and allowed regular
Ram College of Commerce, Lady Shri Ram and Miranda
House. university students to ‘customise’ their
In a statement issued on March 23, K. Ponmudi, courses. is potpourri portends to be a
the state’s higher education minister, said: “The CUET travesty of quality.”
exam will adversely affect the opportunities of impover- Anita Rampal, former dean, faculty of education,
ished students from the state. Just like NEET students Delhi University on UGC’s massive thrust on online
from rural and poor backgrounds, they will also be de- education (Times of India, March 13)
nied admission for lack of
coaching through profes-
sional entrance coaching “ ere is one simple thing Indian democracy
institutes. This will lead to will have to think about after these elections.
students not being able to e fact that a politics that has venom, hate,
get admission into presti- prejudice, violence, repression and deceit is
gious colleges like Jawaha- not a deal breaker for voters is something
rlal Nehru University and to think about. is road always ends in
other Central universities catastrophe.”
like Hyderabad Central Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, public intellectual, on the BJP’s
University.” decisive win in four state assembly elections (Indian
K. Ponmudi Ponmudi’s strong criti- Express, March 17)
cism of CUET is rooted in
the state’s united opposition to the National Eligibility-
cum-Entrance Test (NEET) — the sole exam for entry “...some English loving and living people
into the country’s medical colleges. For the past five say we want to go back. Yes we want to go
years since NEET was introduced in 2016, the state gov- back to our roots, to know the greatness of
ernment has been fiercely opposing the test for disad- our culture and heritage, to understand the
vantaging students from its 37,500 Tamil Nadu Board of great amount of treasure in our Vedas, our
Secondary Education (TNBSE)-affiliated schools. books, our scriptures… they don’t want us to
Resistance to common entrance exams is not new know our greatness; they want us to suffer
to the state. In 2006, the M. Karunanidhi-led DMK with inferiority complex… they say we are
government repealed the common entrance exam for
admission into the state’s professional (engineering and saffronising… what is wrong with saffron?”
medical) colleges. Since then, admission has been on the Venkaiah Naidu, vice president, at the inauguration of
basis of class XII exam scores of students. Every year, South Asian Institute of Peace and Reconciliation, in
Haridwar (Hindustan Times, March 20)
850,000 students pass the class XII TNBSE exam.

24 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2022