Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Teaching aspirants vying for assistant professor posts in colleges and universities may now have to settle for only one shot at National Eligibility Test (NET) in a year as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has opposed the two exam structure.
According to information, the board has expressed its interest to the HRD ministry that it is not in favour of conducting the exam twice in a year due to additional burden like reintroduction of class X examinations.
Sources said, with the HRD ministry likely to take a call on the issue soon, a single-exam structure might be on the cards from next year.
Traditionally the examination has always been held twice a year — July and December where candidates benefit from taking the test twice.
Since a lot of time and energy is spent on organising the examination twice and only a few people appear, the board has decided to conduct the examination only once a year while looking at the poor response to the test. Data showed that on an average 6.5 lakh students register for the exam and approximately 1.5 lakh appear, with a pass percentage of only 3.9%.
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Sources further added that even though it is not the core work of the CBSE to conduct the NET exam, it has been carrying it out for the past few years and has also agreed to conduct it till the National Testing Service is formed, which will conduct all competitive examinations thereafter.
It must be noted that earlier this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had said that the CBSE will continue to conduct the exam even as the board had last year expressed its inability to do so.
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The examination is mandatory for the grant of junior research fellowship and recruitment of assistant professors in universities and colleges.
This year, the NET exam will be held on November 5.