Chaos reigns as students dash across Delhi to appear for CUET

The national capital bore witness to distressing scenes of several students and parents making a mad dash through the city from one centre to the other, only to be turned away by security guards at the new centre.

A last-minute change in the exam centre venue and a failure to communicate the change to all students on time majorly hobbled the smooth conduct of the first ever Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to undergraduate courses on Friday.

While technical glitches and last-minute change at CUET-UG examination centres confused and frustrated several aspirants, easy questions lightened up their mood on Friday, said officials. (Amal KS/HT Photos)

With several aspirants getting to know of the change only at the eleventh hour, the national capital bore witness to distressing scenes of several students and parents making a mad dash through the city from one centre to the other, only to be turned away by security guards at the new centre, thereby wrecking their chances of getting into a college and course of their choice this year.

Taking note of the general chaos, the National Testing Agency (NTA), the agency conducting CUET, extended by an hour -- from 8.30am to 9.30am -- the time for students to enter the exam centre premises, allowing a few students to sit for the exam; even so, there were still numerous others who couldn’t make it on time and ended up missing the crucial exam, the scores of which are the sole criterion for gaining admissions to Delhi University colleges this year.

Chaos started unfolding around 8am Friday as parents and students reached the Netaji Subhas University of Technology in Dwarka, their allocated centre, only to find that the exam was not taking place there.

Dumbfounded parents and candidates were told by security guards that CUET was not scheduled to take place at NSUT. In a last-minute move on Thursday, the NTA had changed the centre to “Delhi University Stadium in Maurice Nagar, North Campus”, located roughly about 25km from NSUT, parents learnt.

With no prior knowledge about the change and with very little time left to reach the new centre, hassled parents and students frantically dialled the helpline numbers but to no avail.

Chandni, 18, who appeared anxious as she stood outside the new centre with her mother, said she had reached NSUT at 8.10am -- the exam was to start at 9pm-- only to learn about the change in centre. The mother-daughter duo eventually reached the new centre at noon —two hours after the commencement of the exam -- and Chandni was not allowed to take the exam.

“After reaching Dwarka and seeing the chaos at the centre, I checked the admit card and came to know that the centre had been changed. We left for the new centre immediately but got caught up in traffic,” said Chandni, who was scheduled to appear for exams in sociology and political science.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman on Friday said only students whose CUET could not happen due to the technical issues at two centres, one in West Bengal and the other in Punjab, will be provided another chance in the second phase in August.

The ones who made it to the exam centre in the nick of time also had a harrowing few hours, they said.

Akash Gupta, whose sister appeared for the exam, travelled first to NSUT in Dwarka from his residence in north-east Delhi’s Bhajanpura and then to North Campus. “We left home at 6.30am and finally reached Maurice Nagar around 8pm. Amid the chaos, we struggled to get a printout of the new admit card. All this could have been avoided had the testing agency informed us about the change in centre a few days in advance,” said Gupta.

Though some received late night calls from the NTA, intimating them about the change in exam centre, they said the updated admit card came only on Friday morning.

“We got a call on Thursday evening informing us that the exam centre had been changed. There was no update on the online admit card. We were left with no option but to go to NSUT in the morning from our residence in Shashtri Nagar. We were able to download the new admit card only after reaching Dwarka,” said Vijay Kataria, whose daughter Khusboo appeared for the exam.

Gul Sharma, a student who reached the centre after 9am, pleaded with guards to allow her inside even as they insisted on a printout. “It’s not my fault that the centre was updated in the morning. They should allow us to sit for the exam,” said a visibly shaken Sharma.

While she was later permitted to enter, her father Vishal Sharma lashed out at the gross mismanagement. “Is this how an important exam is conducted? We jumped all the red lights to reach the new centre. Who will pay fines I will incur? All this could have been avoided by timely communication,” said Sharma.