ThinkEdu 2025: Scale of national level exams will increase manifold, predicts UGC Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar

Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the UGC, spoke to Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam on the NEP 2020, coaching centres, and building an exam system that inspires confidence
M Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC, in conversation with Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, VC, SASTRA University (Express Photo | P Jawahar)
M Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC, in conversation with Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, VC, SASTRA University (Express Photo | P Jawahar)
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Speaking at the ThinkEdu Conclave 2025, presented by Sastra University, Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), reiterated the need for a single national level entrance examination to inspire public confidence in its objectivity and transparency.

Prof Jagadesh Kumar made this observation in the context of the “multitude of examinations” in India, such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, Common University Entrance Test (CUET), and University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), the majority of which are conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) following its establishment in 2018.

When session chair Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of SASTRA University, drew attention to the challenges of conducting national level entrance examinations in a session titled “Testing Times: Rebuilding Exams in India”, the UGC Chairman noted that the number of students appearing for these examinations, which was just over 60 lakh in 2018, has now grown to 1.2 crore.

He predicted that the scale of these national level examinations will increase manifold due to rising competition, adding that the challenge lies in making the examinations robust, error-free and student friendly.

An exam for all

Answering a question by Prof Vaidhyasubramanian on the need for multiple national level entrance examinations for a limited number of seats, Prof Jagadesh Kumar termed the act of conducting a national level exam — or any exam — a “logistical nightmare”. He emphasised the need to strengthen the NTA, so that every university can use the tests it conducts for their admissions.

Explaining how it could work, the UGC Chairman said that students could choose the appropriate subject based on the course, be it engineering, medicine, general sciences, social sciences or humanities using technology.

He added that 280 Indian universities use the CUET as part of their admissions process, with more joining.

Prof Vaidhyasubramanian, terming these national level entrance exams as “national assets”, proposed mandating a single exam for all universities and states, allowing them to customise it as per their requirements.

In response, Prof Jagadesh Kumar stated that an ideal testing model would have a huge question bank, with a “computer-based adaptive testing mechanism.”

He added that the difficulty levels of today’s standardised tests is making students leave several questions unanswered. “Are we testing their ignorance, or are we testing what they actually learned,” he asked.

Instead, he suggested that each student could receive a different question paper, with the difficulty levels changing based on the the accuracy of their answers. Through this model, examiners can assess how each student responds to different levels of difficulty and understand their aptitude for the course, and students can answer more questions.

M Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC, in conversation with Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, VC, SASTRA University (Express Photo | P Jawahar)
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Building a dependable exam

Responding to a question on the “undue importance of coaching centres”, Prof Jagadesh Kumar attributed this phenonemon to a mismatch in the difficulty levels of entrance exams and the school curricula.

He added that CUET-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) was designed to match the difficulty of the Class XII board exam, enabling aspirants to be able to clear it without additional coaching.

He emphasized the need to build confidence in the examination system by strengthening test-conducting agencies, leveraging technology to prevent malpractices. Testing agencies, he said, must be staffed with professionals who have a sense of ownership and employ advanced technologies for secure exams.

Additionally, students should be trained in resilience and overcoming the fear of failure, he added. He proposed starting this at the school level by teaching students how to make study plans and stick to them. “Success in academics is based on discipline, not just intellectual capabilities,” he remarked.

As for parents, Prof Jagadesh Kumar quipped that they were the ones who need to be coached not to pressurise their students into pursuing only engineering and medicine.

NEP 2020 — an inclusive policy

Commenting on the progress of the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020), Prof Jagadesh Kumar said it is rooted in ensuring equity, access to higher education and social justice, and is bringing widespread reforms in education.

He explained this using an anecdote from a university in a district with over 60 per cent tribal population, where the faculty were working with the local communities and establishing start-ups using technology built from the resources used by them.

“This needs to be scaled up; more universities need to work with their local communities to understand their aspirants and challenges, so that students can build solutions that address them,” he said.

Speaking about students’ aspirations, he explained that first-generation learners from socially and economically disadvantaged communities and rural areas aspire to take care of their families and futures, and look for opportunities for employment.

He said that universities must help these students so that they could also “rise to the top” and aspire to contribute to the development of emerging technologies, while also building strong careers.

“Providing high quality education doesn’t just mean building universities that rank high. There are many universities that provide capacity building of students. We must recognise and emulate them,” he declared.

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