CBSE likely to conduct NET just once a year due to the below par response to the exam

According to sources, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) could conduct the National Eligibility Test (NET) once a year rather than the current trend of conducting it twice in a year.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) ended all the speculations surrounding NET by confirming that CBSE itself will continue conducting the exam.

Currently, the NET is held twice a year, in July and December. The exam is conducted to grant junior research fellowship and assistant professorship in various universities and colleges across India.

Also Read: UGC confirms that CBSE will conduct NET

CBSE will mostly release an official notification regarding this change soon.

The sources said that CBSE suggested conducting the exam annually rather than bi-annually after looking at the poor record of NET. Apparently, on an average 6.5 lakh students register for the test out of which only 1.5 lakh students appear for it and the pass percentage is around 3.9% only, which is quite less.

There is no final confirmation or notification on this. A source spoke to HT, “CBSE has agreed to conduct the exam till the National Testing Service is formed, which will start conducting all competitive examinations. However, CBSE has conveyed to the UGC that the exam should be conducted once a year as a lot of time and energy is spent on organising it and few people take it.”

NET is a prerequisite for the recruitment of teachers at universities and colleges. Last year in September, CBSE had written to the HRD Ministry, that it will not be able to conduct exams that are not in its purview due to the additional burden that it was creating on the Board.