CLAT 2021 postponed to June 13 to avoid clash with CBSE exams: Higher anxiety levels, uncertain about their future say students

This year's Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) has been rescheduled to June 13 in order to avoid a clash with the Central Board of Secondary Education Exams 2021, whose revised dates were announced last week. The law entrance examination was earlier scheduled on May 9 but now instead it would be conducted on June 13, 2021, as a lot of students raised concerns about the CBSE exams and CLAT falling on the same day. The CBSE boards are being held from May 4 to June 10, 2021.

The decision to postpone the CLAT exam was taken during the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Consortium of National Law Universities held on January 6. "The Executive Committee of the Consortium of National Law Universities met on January 6, 2021, to consider rescheduling the date of the CLAT 2021 exam due to clashes with the CBSE Board examination schedule announced last wee. The date for CLAT 2021 has been rescheduled to Sunday, June 13 from 2 pm to 4 pm. The UG and LLM exams shall be conducted on this date," an official release from the CNLU stated.

Students, however, seem to be quite divided. While some are glad that the exams have been postponed, others feel that this atmosphere of uncertainty is affecting their concentration levels, study timings and their mental health.

Drishik Behal, a student from Mumbai who has been receiving CLAT coaching from Endeavor Careers, an institute set up in 2005, tells us how the postponement affects him. "I had started my preparation a bit late, precisely in November 2020, this sudden announcement seems to have made us students a bit more relaxed and lethargic, to say the least. We are trying our best to keep our concentrations level consistent but changing the dates numerous times makes it quite difficult," he says.

Ria Hiranandani, a student from Maharashtra also agrees. "Everything is quite uncertain. I was actually looking forward to taking the exam in May itself but when the CBSE timetable came out, we were a bit taken aback. We don't know what's going on. Currently, I study under the Maharashtra board and they haven't given us a final date for our board exams, which makes it even more difficult. It's human nature that you don't get the kick to study unless you have an exam the next day. That is affecting us quite a bit, we are clueless. The Education Minister had earlier said that our boards might be in May but there's no assurance in regards to that. Colleges haven't reopened yet across the country, they have begun online admissions but we don't know if the applications will get delayed too. I have been appearing for mock tests, revising the entire syllabus numerous times," she explains.

Another student from Mumbai, Aarush Kumar, who studies under the CBSE board, has a different opinion. "The postponement is a good decision. But I personally feel we should be provided with more gap days between the last CBSE board exam and CLAT. The CBSE exams end on June 10 and CLAT is on June 13 that makes it a tad bit difficult for students like us. A bigger gap would have been beneficial for proper revision, I feel. There is a lot of anxiety though in regards to the dates being changed every now and then. Your schedule gets messed up when it gets delayed constantly it becomes an issue," he adds.

CLAT is a national-level entrance exam through which candidates can take admissions to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programmes. Students appearing for CLAT have the option of taking admission to 22 National Law Universities across the country. The entire process of examination and admission is managed by the Consortium of National Law Universities. This year's registration began on January 1 and the last date to apply is March 31, 2021.