The Jagannath University Teachers’ Association on Sunday announced that the admission tests for the 2024-25 session are set to be held on the scheduled dates.
Additionally, the association claimed that imposing the GST system on public universities has undermined their autonomy and is part of a scheme to dismantle public universities for the benefit of a specific group.
The newly elected general secretary of the association, Professor Dr Rais Uddin, made these remarks.
He said: “Since its establishment, Jagannath University has been conducting admission tests independently, following decisions of its academic council, as per university regulations. However, a group of individuals, aligned with the erstwhile fascist government, imposed the GST system to create instability among universities.”
“This system has also caused session jams, favouring private universities financially. Furthermore, the introduction of the GST system led to vacant seats in public universities, a phenomenon that was non-existent under the individual admission process,” he added.
The association believes that the GST system is a covert attempt to destroy public universities.
In a subsequent statement, the association reiterated its longstanding opposition to the GST system, highlighting its continuous protests against the inclusion of Jagannath University in this framework since 2021.
According to the unanimous decision of the academic council, the university administration has decided to exit the cluster-based GST admission test system and revert to its traditional method. The Teachers’ Association and students stand united in support of this decision.
The statement further addressed allegations that teachers prefer the independent system for financial gain. It clarified that this is untrue, citing statistics to demonstrate the contrary. For instance, after being included in GST, teachers received an average of 75% more money in 2020-2021 than a teacher received outside the invigilation in the admission test in the 2018-19 session. In 2022-23, this increase exceeded 250%.
The decision to return to the independent admission process is motivated solely by the university's commitment to maintaining the quality and reputation of education. Additionally, the statement highlighted that 360 seats remained vacant at Jagannath University over the last four GST admission tests, a situation that never occurred under the independent admission system.
The teachers concluded by stating that if the government establishes a National Testing Authority with a well-structured examination process for all universities, as per the December 2023 directive, they would support it. Otherwise, the current admission process, decided by the Academic Council, will continue, with admission tests being conducted on the announced dates.
Admission test schedule
The admission tests for the 2024–2025 academic year will be held as follows:
Faculty of Fine Arts (E Unit): Friday, January 31, 2025
Faculty of Social Sciences (D Unit): Friday, February 14, 2025
Faculty of Arts (B Unit): Saturday, February 15, 2025
Faculty of Science and Life and Earth Sciences (A Unit): Saturday, February 22, 2025
Faculty of Business Studies (C Unit): Friday, February 28, 2025
Each unit's admission test will be conducted in three shifts on the respective day.
