Revised upper age limit criteria could be a slippery slope for research aspirants – Times of India
Applicants who are not more than 30 years of age as on December 1, 2022 will be only eligible to apply for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) positions, as per the new notification of NTA. The application for UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) opened in December 2022 and the registration will continue till Jan 17.
In between, the NTA announced the revised age criteria, which confused the aspiring candidates. Under the new rule, the upper age limit is of 30 years, which was earlier 31 years for general category candidates, except females and reserved category students. This will add to the financial burden for PhD students who have crossed the age limit, as they will be ineligible for JRF.
Most candidates are confused and hassled as new regulation needs to be communicated in advance. NTA abruptly announced the rule and implemented it while the candidates were registering for it. The NTA had relaxed the age to 31 years for applicants during the pandemic to help the researchers, it has now gone back to the original format of 30 years for male candidates (general category).
JRF offers a monthly stipend of Rs 35000 to Rs 41000 per month, to students who qualify for the NET exam based on their percentile scores. This applies to candidates already enrolled or pursuing their PhD. In the fourth year of the research, the JRF gets converted into Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
“We got only two chances to appear in NET in past two years and I was preparing for the JRF. Now, with reducing the JRF upper age limit from 31 to 30 years, I am ineligible for the same. Due to this, I will have to pursue PhD without a scholarship. It is an injustice for general category aspirants,” says, Bidhen Singh Chitra, a NET candidate studying Urdu language.
Kushal Mukherjee, a researcher from West Bengal who turned 31 on January 1, 2023, says, “I was preparing for the JRF for the past two months. Suddenly the new age limit criteria have been announced, which halted my academic journey. The information was not published in the original official NTA brochure. So, technically for the December 2022 exam cycle, we should be allowed to appear for the exam.”
Vineet Pandey, CEO, Sahitya Classes offers teaching guidance for English Literature to NET aspirants, says, “To fix the delayed and uneven exam cycle, the NTA is trimming the Covid relaxation. But, it is a flawed rule because NTA should have informed at least a month in advance before starting the application process. Applicants are forced to walk on a slippery slope, as they will be unable to derive the benefits of JRF for a PhD.”
“One year of age relaxation was introduced during the pandemic. Applicants aged 31, were allowed to sit in the exam because of the delayed and merged exam cycle. However, instead of conducting four NET examinations, only two were conducted and this irregularity had already decreased the chances of aspirants to qualify JRF. Keeping this scenario in mind, the best interest of students, NTA should consider rolling back the revised age limit criteria,” says, Satyendra Kumar Manjhi, founder, Sen Academy of Media, an online tutorial platform to teach NET aspirants.
In between, the NTA announced the revised age criteria, which confused the aspiring candidates. Under the new rule, the upper age limit is of 30 years, which was earlier 31 years for general category candidates, except females and reserved category students. This will add to the financial burden for PhD students who have crossed the age limit, as they will be ineligible for JRF.
Most candidates are confused and hassled as new regulation needs to be communicated in advance. NTA abruptly announced the rule and implemented it while the candidates were registering for it. The NTA had relaxed the age to 31 years for applicants during the pandemic to help the researchers, it has now gone back to the original format of 30 years for male candidates (general category).
JRF offers a monthly stipend of Rs 35000 to Rs 41000 per month, to students who qualify for the NET exam based on their percentile scores. This applies to candidates already enrolled or pursuing their PhD. In the fourth year of the research, the JRF gets converted into Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
“We got only two chances to appear in NET in past two years and I was preparing for the JRF. Now, with reducing the JRF upper age limit from 31 to 30 years, I am ineligible for the same. Due to this, I will have to pursue PhD without a scholarship. It is an injustice for general category aspirants,” says, Bidhen Singh Chitra, a NET candidate studying Urdu language.
Kushal Mukherjee, a researcher from West Bengal who turned 31 on January 1, 2023, says, “I was preparing for the JRF for the past two months. Suddenly the new age limit criteria have been announced, which halted my academic journey. The information was not published in the original official NTA brochure. So, technically for the December 2022 exam cycle, we should be allowed to appear for the exam.”
Vineet Pandey, CEO, Sahitya Classes offers teaching guidance for English Literature to NET aspirants, says, “To fix the delayed and uneven exam cycle, the NTA is trimming the Covid relaxation. But, it is a flawed rule because NTA should have informed at least a month in advance before starting the application process. Applicants are forced to walk on a slippery slope, as they will be unable to derive the benefits of JRF for a PhD.”
“One year of age relaxation was introduced during the pandemic. Applicants aged 31, were allowed to sit in the exam because of the delayed and merged exam cycle. However, instead of conducting four NET examinations, only two were conducted and this irregularity had already decreased the chances of aspirants to qualify JRF. Keeping this scenario in mind, the best interest of students, NTA should consider rolling back the revised age limit criteria,” says, Satyendra Kumar Manjhi, founder, Sen Academy of Media, an online tutorial platform to teach NET aspirants.
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