The National Testing Agency is taking measures to smoothen glitches that marred the first edition of the Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (CUET-UG) last year, a top official said.
This year, there would be examination centres within 100km, students will be informed about their centres well in advance, there will be extra computers at each testing centre, which will also be given extra time to download and upload papers, they said.
The application process for this year’s CUET-UG is open; the last date of submission is March 12. The test will be conducted from May 21. The debut edition held between July and August last year was marked by several technical and administrative glitches, with the testing agency having to cancel the exams at several centres on some days.
The agency has started the groundwork of identifying centres, the available infrastructure and broadband speeds, according to M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman of the University Grants Commission, India’s higher education regulator. There were complaints of systems breaking down during the exam at several centres last year.
“This time, each centre will have extra computers. In case any computer fails during the exam, the student will be immediately shifted to another one,” Kumar said. “Besides, we will also keep backup servers ready for the centres. They will also be provided enough time for uploading and downloading the papers.”
The testing agency will inform students about their centres at least 10 to 12 days in advance, he added. “We could not do that last year because many centres were finalized at the last moment. This time, centres will be allotted within 100 km range of the address provided by the students. They will get enough time to travel to the cities and make all arrangements,” Kumar said.
Many students had raised objections over the last minute announcements of centres last year. The debut edition of the exam saw 60% attendance. The Centre has made CUET-UG a mandatory yardstick for all central universities, while keeping it optional for others.
Kumar said the agency has decided to conduct exams in three shifts a day instead of two to wrap up the process early. “There were complaints from some universities that because of the CUET, their academic session got delayed last year. But, this time, we will wrap up everything by mid June or July first week. The universities can easily start their season from August 1 onwards,” he said.
The CUET-UG was extended by almost 10 days last year due to the consecutive cancellation of exams.
Unlike last year, when eight central universities in northeastern states and one in Uttrakhand were exempted from the CUET-UG due to operational difficulties in conducting exams, there will be no such restriction this year. “No (central) university will be exempted this year,” Kumar said.
