NED University to hold bachelor's entry tests online

Students will be called to campus in shifts of 900-1,000, with two shifts being called each day

The novel coronavirus has upended life as we know it. Universities and schools, like all other institutions and industries, have been scrambling to respond to the pandemic and adapting to the new abnormal.

To this end, the NED University of Engineering and Technology has announced significant changes in its admission criteria and policy. In the most recent announcement, the varsity has decided to shift its entrance test for the bachelors of engineering programme online.

Beginning from August 8, 2020, the varsity will conduct entrance tests for a week. Students will have to come to the university to sit for the test but will be called to campus in shifts of 900-1,000, with two shifts being called each day.

The varsity typically conducts its test on a field on campus. Last year, for instance, nearly 12,000 candidates sat for the entry test, with as many sets of parents crowding the gates outside.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, NED Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Tufail said that these decisions have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid possible crowding during the exam.

He explained that although candidates will not have the option to take the test from their houses, they will be called to campus in shifts and will take a 'paperless' test.

The exam will be computer-based and will be carried out in the varsity's computer labs, with 20 students being seated in one lab at a time. The duration of the test will be two hours, explained Prof Tufail.

According to the VC, the results of the examination will be announced within a week after the last shift of students has sat for the tests and the process is completed.

When asked about the process, Prof Tufail explained that the software to be used for testing would not require a manual assessment of the entry test. He said that a question bank has been prepared by the varsity and each shift would have different questions to answer while the sequence in which the questions appear for each candidate will also differ.

Elaborating further, Prof Tufail said that the candidates will not be provided with the correct answers immediately but instead the results of the test, tabulated by the software, will be issued online later.

The decision comes as part of NED's response to Covid-19. According to the VC, the varsity's academic council has given the administration leeway to respond to the situation and take decisions regarding the entry test accordingly.

Earlier, the university announced the decision to admit students to the bachelors’ programme based on their first-year intermediate results instead of considering the overall percentage obtained in the first and second year of college.

The varsity also changed the merit for admissions, according to which the entrance test has been given a 50 per cent weightage. The weightage of the marks obtained in intermediate exams has been reduced to 50 per cent.

As for A-Level students, the VC said, that equivalence certificates will need to be obtained from the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen.

Prior to the coronavirus, the NED admission test was given a weightage of 8.33 per cent, while the weightage for marks in intermediate was at 91.66 per cent. Due to these changes, candidates seeking admission in the university will now have to work very hard to qualify the entrance test.