Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) seems not to have learned any lessons from last year mess as students continue to remain in dark whether they will be allowed to wear a simple wrist watch while appearing in the All India Pre-Medical Test on May 3.
CBSE, in its AIPMT prospectus, has mentioned that students will not be allowed to wear a digital watch inside the centre or any watch with a calculator installed.
The condition was the same last year as well but students were not even allowed to wear a simple wrist watch at a few centres leaving them disappointed.
Phone calls from the parents and students were received by HT over the issue on Saturday. Many of them even called up the CBSE centre in New Delhi and also the regional centre but only to get confused even further.
"I called up the AIPMT unit in Delhi and was given assurance by the officials that there is no restriction on students to wear normal watches and claimed that they have passed on the information to regional office of CBSE in Panchkula. In order to confirm the same from the regional office here, we were bluntly told that they would not allow students to carry watches in the centres ," said Ashima Sharma, parent of an AIPMT aspirant.
Sahil Kukreja, an AIPMT aspirant, said that it is very important to wear a watch while attempting the paper in order to manage the time well.
{{/usCountry}}Sahil Kukreja, an AIPMT aspirant, said that it is very important to wear a watch while attempting the paper in order to manage the time well.
{{/usCountry}}When contacted, the officials at AIPMT unit in Delhi seemed hesitant to clear the air over the confusion and said that the prospectus carries clear instructions.
Raj Rani, assistant secretary AIPMT unit, said that things are very clear and students need not worry as there is no confusion in the directions. CBSE regional officer RJ Khanderao bluntly refused to comment on the issue.