After the protest of students, the authorities of Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU have planned to change the admission policy for Ph.D. and M.Phil programmes giving 80 percent weightage to entrance examination and 20 percent to viva-voce.
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In December 2016, the University decided to give 100 percent weightage to viva-voce and reduced the entrance examination marks to be just the qualifying criteria. After the decision of the University, students had vehemently opposed the move.
A member of the steering committee said that the admission policy of the University would adhere to all the constitutional provisions relating to the reservation system. The admission will be based on three tier entrance tests as follows:
- Qualifying entrance test where all students need to get 50 per cent marks
- Descriptive type written test
- Viva-voce
Under the new order, the ratio of weightage for the descriptive test and viva would be in the ratio of 80:20. The steering committee of admission took the decision and discussed on the relevant portions of new regulations and possible impact on the current practices of the University.
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The student union of JNU alleged that the University has issued a statement without finally confirming the minute details of the steering committee meeting and lots of false facts have been projected in the statement.
In a statement, JNUSU said that they have raised strong objections to many of the agenda items that the administration has not pointed out in the statement. They have written a letter to the steering committee in this regard and they will continue with protests till the issues are not resolved. The administration of the University, on its part, said that they are in discussions with various stakeholders and further appealed to the students to end their hunger strike and cooperate with the University.