The first tests for India’s second-largest undergraduate college qualifier examination, the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG), were held on Friday but many students in several cities were unable to sit for it after last-minute glitches, prompting authorities to announce some may be allowed a second chance although many may still be left out.
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According to data provided by officials, 85% of the students who opted for the test slots on Friday turned up.
But there were issues in at least three cities: the examinations could not be held at two centres — one each in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and Punjab’s Pathankot — and in Delhi, scores of students said their centres were changed at the last minute, which caused them to miss the test.
“An exception will be made for only 190 candidates who were to appear at the two centres [in West Bengal and Punjab] who will now be allowed to appear in the second phase in August,” said M Jagadesh Kumar, the chairperson of the University Grants Commission, which oversees the process.
Kumar added that students were being allowed to take the examination even if they reached an incorrect centre and emphasised that a second chance will not be given to those who reached more than 30 minutes late.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar added that students were being allowed to take the examination even if they reached an incorrect centre and emphasised that a second chance will not be given to those who reached more than 30 minutes late.
{{/usCountry}}“In cases where students fail to do so [reach a centre on time], we cannot provide them another opportunity. It will otherwise open a pandora’s box because 15% students who are absent may also demand another opportunity citing the same reason. My advice to such students is to reach the examination centres on time,” he added.
Although officials later suggested a final decision may have not been taken on the case of the students in the Delhi mix-up, Kumar’s position effectively leaves their fate uncertain since many reached the correct centre over an hour late.
“Many students missed the exam due to the mismanagement that took place at the last minute. It will be unfortunate if another chance is not offered to them since they have been preparing for the exam for months and a last-minute mix-up will cost them heavily,” said Geeta, whose 18-year-old daughter Chandni was among those affected.
The mother-daughter duo had first reached Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), Dwarka in southwest Delhi that they said was earlier listed as the centre for Chandni’s examination. Once there, they were told CUET tests were not being held at the institute.
“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. I couldn’t believe that the centre had been changed just an hour before the exam. We left for the new centre immediately but got caught up in traffic,” the aspirant said, adding that they reached the correct centre, at the Delhi University’s North Campus in north Delhi, two hours late.
Kumar said a total of 55,175 students appeared for the examinations on Friday. Overall, 1.49 million have signed up for the examination that will be held in two phases, once this month, and then in August. “The first session of CUET went really well across the country with an overall attendance percentage in both the sessions recorded at 85%. The largest centre was in Delhi University where 574 appeared on Friday,” said Kumar.
The UGC chairperson said students are being allowed to take their examinations even if they reach the wrong centre. “In all entrance exams, including JEE and NEET, it’s a common practice that we do not let any candidate enter the examination centre if they reach 30 minutes after the test begins. But in case a student turns up at a wrong centre due to any reason [for CUET], we help them by making an exception even if that is not their assigned centre provided they do not reach 30 minutes after the commencement of the exam. They can inform the regional coordinators in such cases,” he said.
Kumar said the NTA has not received any complaint of the nature of the Delhi confusion from other centres. ‘This has happened only at one centre. Everything went well at all other centres across the country,” he added.
The number of CUET-UG aspirants is second only to the 1.8 million who signed up for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for admission into medical colleges.
“CUET is a step in right direction towards quality and standardization. Any remaining challenge in CUET will be resolved at the earliest,” said Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday, after reports of problems had begun to emerge.
Highlighting the security measures taken for the conduct of CUET, Kumar said, “We had two national coordinators, 18 regional coordinators and 159 city coordinators who were constantly monitoring the examination. No complaint of malpractice has been received from anywhere. We installed 1,500 jammers per shift to avoid cheating.”
(With inputs from Sadia Akhtar)