UGC NET Exam Questions: A Saga of Dumb Luck and Randomness

The UGC-NET examination needs serious revamps. Read on to know what the students and teachers think about the exam.

The current pattern of the UGC NET exam raises questions on its ability to attract the right teaching talent. (Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

“How can something as subjective as student-teacher interaction be reduced to a setting as binary as the NET? How will you judge my proficiency in teaching say Donne by asking me what year Donne’s Songs and Sonnets was published? What about my knowledge of metaphysical poetry? Of how Donne responds to Petrarchanism? On that the NET is mum”, said a Delhi University professor, on conditions of anonymity.

And she is not alone. There is a growing dissatisfaction among the teacher-student community with the NET examination. The NET, now conducted by the CBSE on behalf of UGC, determines the eligibility of candidates for the post of Assistant Professor and Junior Research Fellowship or both for over 80 subjects.

Here are a few questions that expose the triviality that the exam is. And there are over 150 questions like this!

• The UGC NET is conducted in over 80 subjects twice a year.
  
• English, Sociology, Psychology are treated in the same way as Forensic Sciences.
  
• People holding a PhD after 2009 are also required to take the exam.
  
• The qualifying paper tests the knowledge of candidates in GK and mathematics, regardless of the subject they are appearing for.
  
• The CBSE conducts the exam on behalf of the UGC now
  
• It is a completely objective examination.
  

No Defined Syllabus

A candidate, who didn’t wish to be named and has written the exam multiple times said:

“The syllabus is said to be pretty much everything under the sun. I think it’s a little bit unfair. It should be more clearly defined.”

MCQs Not the Right Approach

Here is one question that was a part of the UGC-NET held in January 2017 and exposes the insensitivity of the paper-setters.

Commenting on the UGC-NET, an Assistant Professor in Delhi University said:

Instead of relevant, research oriented questions, the questions being asked are rather trivial. These could only benefit the various coaching institutes that have cropped up in the recent years where students are fed these tidbits that they can cram for the purpose of the exam, without bothering with the in-depth knowledge of the subject.

“NET Is Hardly Different From CBSE Board Exams”

Sumeet Kaur, despite clearing the exam, is hardly convinced of its ability to attract the right teaching talent. When contacted by The Quint, she said:

Cracking NET was a fluke. I was not surprised when I got my result. What I did feel, instead, was that I was inadequate. I was suddenly overcome with anxiety as to how I would live up to this responsibility of teaching when I myself didn’t know much. 

Quality Gets Compromised

In the current exam pattern, a lot of good candidates miss out on cracking the exam.

A professor in the University of Delhi, who is now in his 11th year of teaching, on conditions of anonymity said:

You cannot judge if someone is fit to teach on the basis of MCQs – especially university teachers. The older system also had a subjective paper so at least there was something – some attempt to check depth of knowledge. But MCQs just don’t work. 

The UGC has now delegated the exam to the CBSE and it yet remains to be answered if the CBSE, which conducts school level examinations, is suited for the job. A Delhi University professor who didn’t wish to be named asked:

MCQs Not the Only Problem

The NET exam doesn’t even exempt candidates holding a PhD (the only exceptions are people who finished it before 2009) which is again a questionable move. An assistant professor working in Delhi University raised concern on this norm:

Isn’t it laughable (and tragic) for someone who already has a PhD to wait another year (or years at times) to enter the workforce?

Secondly, the compulsary qualifying paper (Paper 1) is a test of general knowledge and mathematics. Is it required? Though aptitude papers are a worldwide trend, we really need to re-evaluate if we actually need them.

What Is the Way Ahead?

“I think the subjective paper must be reinstated. It will lower the number of candidates who qualify for assistant professorship, and thus reduce the competition. More importantly, it will massively improve the quality of teaching”, said Sumeet Kaur.

“I strongly think there needs to be other levels introduced between NET and teaching and I am not just talking about college interview”, said a DU professor when contacted.

However, Brijesh Rana, a prospective professor and currently a student who recently had his first brush with the NET, has a different take on the issue. Talking to The Quint, he said he supports the MCQ format.

Different Subjects Need to Be Dealt Differently

What works for one subject, might not work for the other. More specifically, can sociology, history and political science fall in the same category as computer science, forensic science and environment science?

The ball is in the court of the testing agencies and the UGC now. They need to re-evaluate the exam and come up with a better model. Is it asking too much?