State universities in West Bengal have not embraced the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG model for undergraduate admissions, according to authorities on Sunday. The Vice Chancellor of Diamond Harbour Women’s University, Soma Bandyopadhyay, stated that they conducted their own entrance test in line with the directives of the state higher education department. Other institutions, including Jadavpur University, St Xavier’s University, Presidency University, Vidyasagar University, Bardhaman University, MAKAUT, North Bengal University, and West Bengal University of Technology, have also adhered to their own admission processes as outlined by the state higher education department.
Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association spokesperson, Partha Pratim Roy, emphasized that Jadavpur University maintains high academic standards through its rigorous admission procedure for science, arts, and engineering disciplines, making the uniform CUET route inapplicable.
St Xavier’s University Vice-Chancellor Father Felix Raj confirmed that they did not follow the CUET route and conducted their own offline entrance tests. Similarly, officials from other universities, including Presidency University, Vidyasagar University, Bardhaman University, MAKAUT, North Bengal University, and West Bengal University of Technology, stated that they have stuck to their established admission processes.
Visva-Bharati University, however, has adopted the CUET route for its UG courses, with a slight lowering of cut-off marks for internal students. The CUET-UG results were declared on September 16 by the National Testing Agency (NTA), and individual universities will prepare merit lists and decide on counseling based on CUET-UG scorecards. Some students, represented by the Presidency University Students Union spokesperson, Debnil Paul, expressed opposition to the imposition of a uniform admission test criteria on all higher educational institutions, citing concerns about academic autonomy.
