UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

NEP 2020 emphasises that teacher quality is central to educational improvement. It calls for clear norms and transparent processes that select candidates on academic merit, aptitude and ethical commitment. At the same time, recruitment should promote diversity and fairness. This combination builds trust and capacity in the system.

Option A:
Option A captures practices that NEP criticises and wants to change.

Option B:
This option matches NEP’s call for high standards and inclusive recruitment policies.

Option C:
Limiting recruitment to one social group goes against equity principles and is not allowed.

Option D:
Informal recruitment without criteria encourages bias and corruption, which the policy seeks to avoid.

Reservation in faculty positions aims to correct historical under-representation of certain social groups in academic employment. It seeks to create a more diverse and representative professoriate that reflects the social composition of society. This is an example of pursuing inclusive representation. Thus, the blank in the stem is best completed as “inclusive,” making Option C correct.

Option A:
Inclusive representation ensures that different social, caste, and gender groups participate in knowledge production and teaching. This diversity can enrich classroom perspectives and research agendas, supporting social justice goals in higher education. These points align closely with the description in the question.

Option B:
Elite representation would reinforce dominance of already privileged groups, which is precisely what reservation policies attempt to mitigate. Hence, Option A contradicts the intent of the policy.

Option C:
Exclusive representation suggests keeping others out and concentrating positions in a narrow group, again contrary to the goal of reservations. Therefore, Option B is not appropriate.

Option D:
Random representation would imply no conscious corrective policy and is not an accurate description of targeted affirmative action. Option D therefore does not fit the stem.