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NTA derailed our plans for the future, say small-town students with big dreams
The NTA, which has been grappling with several controversies including alleged paper leaks in other examinations, has delayed the announcement indefinitely and scrapped the UGC-NET altogether, leaving lakhs of students scrambling to decide their next course of action.
Students and activists have been protesting against the National Testing Agency for delaying CUET results and scrapping June’s UGC-NET.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
Nineteen-year-old Priyanshu Kumar, the first-ever member of his family to go to school, had been harbouring ambitions of clinching a seat in Delhi University’s BTech course up until recently, but has since abandoned his dream due to the delay in the announcement of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) results.
“I wanted to leave my village and go to Delhi or south India, where the quality of education is said to be better and there are more jobs to be had, but now, I am considering shelling out ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 to secure a place in a State college,” said Mr. Kumar, who hails from Sanhauli in Bihar’s Khagaria district.
NTA working on CUET-UG results, date to be announced soon: UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar
The results of the standardised test, which was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) from May 15 to 24 to determine admissions to undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate programmes in Central universities, were expected to be announced on June 30.
The NTA, however, which has been grappling with several controversies including alleged paper leaks in other examinations, has delayed the announcement indefinitely and scrapped June’s University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) altogether, leaving lakhs of students scrambling to decide their next course of action.
But for scores of students, some of whom are first-generation learners from marginalised communities, the anxiety is not strictly limited to securing a seat at a good college.
“It is all the more difficult to focus on furthering my education due to my financial constraints,” said Mr. Kumar, adding that he already wasted ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 on travelling to the CUET centre. His interest in technology was sparked several years ago, but the lack of awareness in his village limited his options.
Priyanshu Kumar said he was forced to look for admission in a State college.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“I only got to know about the Joint Entrance Examination [for engineering] when I was in Class 12, by which time it was too late. That’s why I was depending on my CUET score,” he said. Although he has spoken to some people regarding admission elsewhere, he said it will cost “a huge amount of money” and won’t guarantee him a seat.
‘Wanted new life’
Familial pressure, too, has forced students to pursue alternatives they had not previously wished to consider. Anjali Morla from Bijapur in Chhattisgarh, for instance, has resorted to securing admission in Bilaspur University, but not in the course she had her heart set on.
“I wanted to study political science at one of the renowned universities in Varanasi and Delhi, but my parents have pressured me into taking up a BSc programme here,” said the 18-year-old, adding that had she got a seat at a more prestigious college, she would have been able to persuade her parents to take up the course of her choice.
Ms. Morla’s hopes of “living independently” have also been dashed. “I’ve never left Chhattisgarh. I wanted to go to a bigger city and have new experiences, but I’m stuck here now,” she said.
Anjali Morla said her hopes of moving to a big city have been dashed.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Sonali Yadav from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehabad, who appeared for the UGC-NET, said the NTA’s move has graver ramifications for women students. “My family just wants me to start earning. They might be supportive of my education right now, but even then, it feels like a ticking time bomb when you are a woman from a small town,” she said.
CUET forcing youth to go abroad for UG education, says Congress; slams NTA
While she admitted that more students are leaving her town to study than ever before, a discrepancy between communities still exists. “When I was younger, I would see my upper-caste friends get support and guidance to go out and study. Despite struggling and working hard, it is incredibly frustrating for me to be at a crossroads now with no concrete plans for the future,” she said.
Sonali Yadav said the NTA’s actions have graver ramifications for women.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
In search of stability
Chavitesh Dongare, a government official working with the Samagra Shiksha education programme in Bijapur, said that while many students opt to become engineers and doctors, most actually dream of leaving the State to become financially stable.
“They end up becoming doctors because they have not seen enough of them in their district and want to fill that vacuum,” he said, adding that the idea of a retest is daunting to students from low-income backgrounds due to the cost of travel to test centres.
Ms. Morla undertook a three-hour journey to Dantewada and incurred expenditure on her three-day stay in the town while the CUET exam took place. The whole trip cost her ₹2,000 — all of which has gone to waste, she said.
Similarly, 24-year-old Animesh Kumar from Khagaria, who sat for the UGC-NET this year, said appearing for a retest, which is scheduled between August and September, will be a “task”. “First, we spend money on buying forms and printing admit cards. Then we spend on taking autorickshaws or buses to the centre. We are students with limited means and cannot do this endlessly,” he said.
The first in his family to get a college degree, Mr. Amritanshu wanted to fulfil the dreams his father, a driver, never could. “I wanted to do a doctorate from a Central university, but now, I don’t know,” he said.
Animesh Kumar said appearing for a retest isn’t easy.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
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