HYDERABAD: The University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) nationwide entrance exams for PG courses, and MPhil and PhD programmes will begin from Thursday, despite stiff opposition from several student unions in Telangana.
The entrance examination for admission into various postgraduate and research courses between September 24 and 26 across 38 test centres in the country will be held by following Covid-19 precautionary measures. Over 62,000 candidates have registered for the exams so far, including 15,000 from Telangana. The UoH plans to complete the admission process and start classes for the new students by the first week of November.
This is despite student unions demanding that the entrance exams be delayed as the schedule is likely to clash with that of the ongoing undergraduate final year semester exams in the State. The UGC-NET, an eligibility test for MPhil and PhD courses for many universities, will be held on September 25.
Meanwhile, State universities in Telangana have postponed the UG exams but the UGC-NET date remains unchanged. In fact, State Planning Commission Vice-Chairman B Vinod Kumar had recently written to UoH Vice-Chancellor Professor Appa Rao seeking a change in the entrance exam date for PG, MPhil and PhD admissions.
“The university had announced the entrance exam dates a month ago. Back then, we had made sure that it does not clash with the schedule of other exams, including the UGC-NET. We cannot revise the dates now as all arrangements have been made. Our observers are scattered across 36 exam centres in the country,” UoH spokesperson Vinod Parvala said.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UoH has set up three exam centres in Hyderabad for students’ convenience, he said. “The Covid-19 protocol akin to what was observed during the NEET and JEE will be followed for at the UoH exams too,” he said.