NEW DELHI: The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a step in right direction and any remaining challenge in the exam will be resolved at the earliest, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Friday.
His comments came on the first day of the debut edition of the CUET, the second largest entrance exam in India, amid complaints of last-minute change of exam centres, long commute for students and lengthy question paper.
"CUET is a step in right direction towards quality and standardization. Any remaining challenge in CUET will be resolved at the earliest," Pradhan said.
The changes in exam centres led many candidates to miss the paper even as the National Testing Agency (NTA) said they will be given another chance to appear in the next phase, which will be held in August.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) chief Jagadesh Kumar had in March announced that CUET scores, and not Class 12 marks, would be mandatory for admission to 45 central universities which can fix their minimum eligibility criteria.
Kumar had clarified that students from state boards will not be at a disadvantage under the new system and the exam will not give a push to the coaching culture.
A total of 44 central universities, 12 state universities, 11 deemed universities, and 19 private universities have applied to participate in the first edition of CUET-UG for admissions in the academic session 2022-23.