The education ministry today issued a directive to vice-chancellors (VCs) of the public universities to continue with the cluster system for admission in their institutes.

In the directive, the ministry's Secondary and Higher Education Division instructed the VCs to ensure that their respective universities remain as the part of the cluster admission system.

The notice said that the cluster system was introduced in 2020 across general, science and technology, agricultural, engineering and technology universities for the effective development and management of higher education. The primary goal of this initiative was to reduce the financial and mental burden on students, save time during the admission process, and ensure a merit-based, transparent, and coordinated system for selecting students.

The notice said the system has already gained public trust as a student-friendly initiative. This system has significantly reduced travel, accommodation, and other costs for students who would otherwise have to appear in separate tests for admission in separate universities.

Additionally, the unified system ensures merit-based admission through a standardised question paper and has reduced parents' concerns about managing multiple admission exams.

The notice added, "In the 2023-24 academic year, 24 universities conducted their admissions through the cluster system. However, recently, it has been observed that some universities are planning to independently organise their admission processes. If such decisions are implemented, it will impose additional financial and mental strain on students and their parents, creating negative perceptions of the education administration."

On December 1, the education adviser sent a letter requesting the VCs of cluster-affiliated universities to follow the unified admission system. Subsequently, on December 10, the ministry issued another letter urging the continuation of the cluster admission process.