Less than 24 hours before he was set to appear for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), Sanat Tuli, a Class 12 student, on Thursday received an email informing about the change in his examination centre.
Caught off guard, Tuli and his family said the last-minute change was “unbelievable”.
“At this point, I don’t even know how to react. I was busy with the revision and around 4 pm, I got to know that my (exam) centre has been changed due to a technical error,” said Tuli. “I am just keeping myself open to all eventualities because panicking now will not help.”
The 20-year-old will be appearing for the CUET — an all-India test being organised by National Testing Agency for admission to various undergraduate courses — in five subjects on Friday, spread across two different slots.
His mother Sheena Tuli said the examination process was making children stressed with each new development. “The exam is on the (July) 15th and we received the admit card only on 11th. Now one day before the exam, they have changed the centre,” said Sheena Tuli.
While her son has a calm disposition, she said it was for the first time that she saw him under excessive stress. “The examination process is giving children more stress and anxiety. My son has applied in the PwD (person with disability) category. Within one day, he has all five papers. I don’t know how we will manage back-to-back papers,” she said. “We don’t have an option but this is certainly not the right way of conducting a crucial exam which will decide the fate of so many students.”
{{/usCountry}}While her son has a calm disposition, she said it was for the first time that she saw him under excessive stress. “The examination process is giving children more stress and anxiety. My son has applied in the PwD (person with disability) category. Within one day, he has all five papers. I don’t know how we will manage back-to-back papers,” she said. “We don’t have an option but this is certainly not the right way of conducting a crucial exam which will decide the fate of so many students.”
{{/usCountry}}Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) — which has more than 120 Delhi schools as its members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi Public Schools and Amity International School — also confirmed that centres of some of the students have been changed just a day before the exam. “While school teachers are in touch with students, the last-minute change has caused some inconvenience,” she said.
“Examination centres for some students at our school were changed on Thursday. They received an email and call from the testing agency informing them about the change in centre,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka. “Children are already under a lot of stress since they received the admit card only four days ago. With these last-minute changes, they are bound to get more stressed. There is a lot of uncertainty.”
Anisha Srivastava, another student who will appear for CUET on Friday and July 19, also received an alert about the change in one of the two exam centres. Her centre for Friday’s exam remains unchanged.
“My centre has been changed from Delhi to Noida for the exam scheduled next week. I was told there is some technical error. I was comfortable with the earlier centre since it was closer to my home. The new centre in Noida is quite far from my home,” said Srivastava.
A senior official at NTA said some changes were made in the allocated examination centre at the last minute after technical issues were reported at some centres. “To ensure smooth and glitch-free conduct of examinations, some centres were changed due to technical issues,” said the official, requesting anonymity.