TISS to intake students in 2024 through CUET PG exam, no TISS NET this time
TISS to use CUET PG for most postgrad admissions, causing concern among students. PSF-TISS condemns move, demands reinstatement of TISSNET.
Mumbai: For the 2024-25 academic year, the Tata Institutes of Social Sciences (TISS) will use the Common University Entrance Test Postgraduate (CUET PG 2024) for admission to all postgraduate courses offered, except for two which will be done on the basis of the national-level management entrance test Common Admission Test (CAT). This has caused a stir among students who were preparing to appear for the TISS entrance test scheduled to take place in December. Around 40,000 candidates appear for the exam annually.
Earlier this week, the institute released a notice announcing scrapping of the TISS National Entrance Test (TISSNET) examination for PG admissions in favour of CUET-PG, and admissions to MA in Human Resource Management and Labour Relations (HRM & LR) and Organisation Development, Change and Leadership (ODCL) will be based on CAT scores.
In a social media post, the TISS Progressive Students Forum (PSF) condemned the “arbitrary scrapping of TISSNET” and likened the decision as “an attack on TISS identity and campus culture.”
“The notice comes months after the deadline to apply for CAT ended on 21st September and the exam is to be conducted in a few days from now. At such a point, hundreds of aspiring students have not applied for CAT and are threatened with the possibility of having to forcibly take a gap year in order to pursue their desired programme. This is going to deny the opportunity to all those students to even apply to TISS. The administration must clarify the admission procedure and create an alternative way for students to apply for these programmes,” stated the post by PSF.
Calling the administration’s move “ill-advised” that “threatens to destroy the very character of the institute”, the post further added, “A social sciences university with an interdisciplinary approach open to students from all walks of life sets TISS apart from the numerous other institutes in India. The adoption of CUET will result in a backtracking of the vision with which TISS was established. It is an indication by the administration that moving forward, TISS will only allow those privileged students who can afford lakhs of rupees in coaching fees for CUET to gain admission.”
PSF-TISS has demanded the reinstatement of TISSNET.
“The TISSNET pre-admission orientation conducted for assisting students from marginalised sections should also be reinstated,” read the statement which also urged the administration to announce the admission timeline well in advance to ensure students are kept in the loop with the admission procedure.
Professor Bino Paul, pro-vice chancellor, TISS, said, “We have registered the concern of students over entrance exams and further clarification will be issued in due course.”