Higher Education Minister Govi. Chezhiaan has appealed to the National Testing Agency (NTA) to intervene and reschedule the National Eligibility Test (NET).
The University Grants Commission’s NET test scores are the eligibility criteria for the post of assistant professor and junior research fellowship in the country’s higher educational institutions.
The NTA, under the Union Education Ministry has scheduled the UGC-NET December 2024, from Jan. 3 to 16. Mr. Chezhiaan said the test falls during the annual Pongal harvest festival, “celebrated by all sections of Tamils across the world for four days” from Jan. 13 to 16.
The Minister said the celebrations would hamper preparation for the exams and added that the Chartered Accountants foundation examination for January 2025 had been rescheduled based on a request from Madurai Lok Sabha member S. Venkatesan.
In 2025, Bhogi, the first day of the festival falls on Jan. 13. Pongal will be celebrated on 14. The next couple of days are also celebrated by Tamils. The annual festival coincides with the Tamil month of Thai.
“Pongal, celebrated as the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu, is an emblem of our culture and traditional heritage that spans over 3,000 years,” the letter stated, pointing out that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana celebrated Makar Sankranthi during the same period.
Published – December 23, 2024 07:32 pm IST