Given the COVID-19 outbreak across the country, the Rajasthan government has decided that admissions to PG courses will be on the basis of merit. No entrance test will be held.
By Riya Sharma
In the view of a lockdown across the country due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Rajasthan government declared on Monday that there will be no entrance test for admission to Post Graduate (PG) courses in the new session, and admissions will be granted based on the marks (grades) in undergraduate courses.
The admission procedure for the new session will begin from 15th June, according to the press release from the Higher & Technical Education Department, Government of Rajasthan.
If the exam results of the Undergraduate courses are delayed, students will be given temporary admissions to the PG classes and classes will begin on schedule, as per media reports.
For professional courses like law and MBA, their respective administrative apex institutions -NCTE, Bar Council of India, AICTE. etc. guidelines on conducting examinations will be followed, the press release stated.
The decision has drawn mixed responses from students and teachers alike. While most teachers feel the decision to be fair in the view of the current scenario in the country, many students interviewed by Newsnet feel they won’t benefit from the decision.
Komal Awasthi, a final year Bachelor of Commerce student from Alankar College Jaipur feels that only a handful of students will benefit from the decision. She said, “Preparing for the masters and doing well in your undergraduate course aren’t always mutually inclusive elements.”
If a student doesn’t have a good percentage in the undergraduate course, Komal said, “It doesn’t necessarily mean that the same student cannot ace the entrance test for the PG course.”
Dr. Mini Nanda, Head of English department, University of Rajasthan, believes that the decision will prove beneficial to the institutions and the students.
She said, “We have to trust merit. The best will get picked. And that’s the best way ahead considering that we are going through a pandemic crisis, so we do not know the constraints of the administration and whatever decision is taken is in the best interest of the students and the institutions.”
“There are students who don’t get excellent grades in their undergraduate courses but they work hard to get admission into a different stream for the masters,” Muskaan, a final year student (whose college is in the Lalkothi area) said.
Undergraduate courses, Puja, another final year student from Jaipur said, “Are exploratory courses where students figure out whether they would like to make a career out of it or not.”
“Many students wish to change their streams altogether and work hard to prepare solely for the entrance exams. This would not be fair on them,” Muskaan added.
Professor S.L. Sharma, Director of Postgraduate Schools at the University of Rajasthan said, “We have made this decision only for this session partaking in the fear of the virus spreading.”
The number of subjects the students can apply for in the admission procedure has been reduced from five to three, according to Professor Sharma.
“In the Undergraduate courses,” Professor Sharma said, “We have a maximum of three optional subjects, so we have reduced the number of subjects the students can apply to because the admissions are merit-based.”
Students from all streams can apply for any subject for the PG courses, everything will be decided on merit, Professor Sharma said reassuringly.
