As row deepens, UGC chairperson responds to CUET criticism

Ever since the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the subject-wise schedule and admit cards on July 11, students and their parents have raised the issues, and termed CUET-UG “unfair” and “impractical”.

New Delhi: Multiple exams on the same day without a breather; centres located in far-flung cities for different exams on consecutive days; different phases that may give some students an advantage; and uncertainty due to heavy rain in several states — these are among the concerns raised by anxious students who will take the first-ever common university entrance exam for undergraduate admissions, or CUET-UG, from July 15 onwards.

Students and their parents have raised the issues, and termed CUET-UG “unfair” and “impractical”. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

Ever since the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the subject-wise schedule and admit cards on July 11, students and their parents have raised the issues, and termed CUET-UG “unfair” and “impractical”.

University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar responded to some of these concerns raised by parents, through HT.

Rohit Anand (parent): My daughter has all six exams scheduled on the same day in different slots. It will be very exhausting for her, and it won’t be possible for her to give her best in all exams. This is totally impractical

Kumar: First of all we need to understand the extent of CUET-UG. More than 14.4 lakh (1.44 million) students are appearing in over 54,000 subject combinations. Originally we wanted to have exams only up to August 10. It was because we discovered that a large number of students were having the same problem of having so many papers in one day, we extended it to August 20. But if we keep extending it because students have multiple papers in a given slot, it will keep on going.

Secondly, all these allotments have been done using computer-based programmes depending on the choice of subjects selected by students so that there is no clash of papers.

Considering that there are over 14 lakh students appearing in CUET in up to nine papers, it was not possible to conduct one or two papers in one day. It works both ways. Either you restrict the number of subjects students can appear for, and they get different slots for each paper, or you give freedom to them to select many subjects

Sahil Sharma (student): I have all my exams in Phase 1, and my friend will appear in the same exams almost after month in Phase 2. It’s natural that he will get more time. How is this going to provide equal opportunity to all students? Please explain why the CUET-UG has been divided into two phases?

Kumar: If you compress all the exams in August, then more students will have more papers on each day. We will have to compress all the papers in that schedule. At least now not all students are witnessing the problem of having many exams in a day. Besides, we shifted some exams to the second phase after receiving feedback from students appearing in the NEET exam on July 17.

It was also not possible to start exams in August, because the schedule would then have stretched till September and affected the entire academic schedule.

Amita Dhar (parent): There has been unnecessary delay in the release of CUET schedule and admit cards. Students have been told that they will have to appear for the exam just three days in advance. This is totally unfair.

Kumar: The students were informed about CUET in March. It was also informed that it will be strictly based on NCERT syllabus. The students were informed about the schedule and city of the exam on Monday evening, and admit cards were issued on Tuesday evening for students appearing in the first phase of CUET. The admit cards are issued only three days before the entrance exam to check malpractice at the examination centres. We are also introducing special security patches in the programme to avoid any malpractice during the exam so that nobody can manipulate the system. It’s only in the interest of students.

Anshu Rathi (student): I have the CUET exam for two consecutive days but at totally different locations, and both the centres are located at four hours distance each from my home in Kushinagar. It will take a lot of time to commute. How can my issue be addressed?

Kumar: In such cases, the students can write to NTA. We are collecting all such requests every day till 6pm and analysing all the emails. By 6am the next day, the students will be informed about their updated exam centre. NTA will help allotting both the centres in the same city.

Nithin Rao (student): We have heavy rains in parts of Telangana and it may be difficult to reach the examination center in case it continues. What will happen if we face the same issue on the exam day?

Kumar: In such cases, if some students could not appear in the exam due to rains, we will take a report from the respective district administration. If the district administration confirms that there was a severe problem due to which students could not reach or exam could not be held, then NTA will rearrange the exam for such students.

Dikhsha Sharma (student): NCERT syllabus is vast and, in the absence of sample papers, it is difficult to understand the pattern of the exam. We are just going to appear in the exam on the basis of the mock tests present on the NTA website. What about the students who are from state boards and have not studied NCERT syllabus?

Kumar: NTA uploaded the NTA syllabus on its website long back. While a large number of states follow NCERT syllabus, for those who studied state syllabus there will be wide choices in the CUET paper. For instance, there will be 50 questions, and students will have to answer 40 of them. I request students not to panic or stress just before the examinations. The exam will only be based on their Class 12 syllabus, which is fresh in their minds.