Presi admission: Panel set up for 7 depts’ tests

Kolkata: Seven departments at Presidency University— chemistry, statistics, life sciences, economics, astrophysics, history and political science — which will hold entrance tests from this academic session to admit undergraduate students, have started planning. An official said, "To ensure a smooth process for admission tests, a committee has been formed with heads of the seven departments, which have decided to conduct entrance tests. The committee will decide on the timeline, the centres, the number of the sets of question papers and how to ensure proper moderation. As entrance tests will be held after 10 years, the university needs to prepare beforehand. We expect to hold the admission tests in June."After the university's admission committee in Jan decided to part ways with the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) Board and conduct UG admissions themselves, the seven departments said they would hold entrance exams, pointing out a department-led test was the best way to screen bright students. The papers would be MCQ-based, they had said. Other departments, such as English, Bengali, Hindi, physics, maths, geology, geography, performing arts, sociology and philosophy, opted to admit students, based on a formula, comprising candidates' class 10 and 12 boards scores.A teacher said, "Departments were given autonomy to decide whether they wanted to conduct tests or admit students based on marks."Presidency teachers in July last year wrote to the vice-chancellor, Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty, flagging their concerns about the WBJEE Board's handling of the admission process. "In the initial years, Presidency faculty members were involved in setting question papers, ensuring academic rigour and contextual appropriateness. We expressed our reservations when the WBJEE Board opted to take over the entire question-setting process... recent developments, marked by inefficiencies and opacity, force us to reconsider our arrangement with the board," read the letter by PU teachers.WBJEEB conducted UG and PG admissions since 2015. Before that, the university held its own admission tests.