UGC-NET pattern is likely to change

The University Grants Commission is likely to amend the Exam Pattern for UGC-NET from next June, said Prof DN Reddy, a UGC member, during a UGC regional consultation on review of NET examination pattern organized at Osmania University by UGC’s Southern Eastern Regional Office (SERO).
During the consultations, Prof. Reddy said that the faculty and students have pointed out an incongruity in the current NET examination pattern. The UGC conducts the exam in objective pattern without negative marking and testing subjects in paper-II and Paper-III out of three papers.
While explaining the impact of negative marking, Prof. Reddy revealed that the number of candidates qualifying the NET examination has got doubled ever since the negative marking pattern has been removed from UGC-NET. The percentage of candidates clearing the NET has been increased from 5 to 10 per cent.
The UGC have been conducting a similar kind of review committee consultation across the nation where the opinions are taken on the scheme of examination, subject, syllabus, developing question banks, evaluation process, eligibility criteria, organizational issues and research and development.
Eliciting his outlook on the current NET examination pattern, Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) chairman Prof P Jayaprakasha Rao asked the UGC to conduct two separate exams – for awarding Lectureship and Junior Research Fellowships.
The APSCHE chairman further opined that the UGC-NET exam paper should include various types of questions like a few short answer questions and at least a couple of essay type questions along with the multiple choice questions.