The first edition of the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2022 has been wrought by technical and administrative glitches and all eyes have been on the National Testing Agency (NTA).
In an attempt to remedy this, Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), M Jagadesh Kumar assures that steps are being taken. Starting with the creation of a special email ID — cuetgrievance@nta.ac.in. This is to receive and address all the grievances and queries of the students. Plus, more teachers will be deployed who have more experience when it comes to dealing with students emphatically.
Attributing the issues plaguing the exam to the CUET UG 2022 being a "mammoth exercise" undertaken by the NTA, the Chairman highlights that the exams are being organised across 61 subjects in 13 languages across the country. He notes that at some of the centres, technical glitches have led to the exam being re-scheduled. He also said staff "should have shown more empathy with the students".
"NTA immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility. Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process," said the Chairman.
The Chaimran went on to say, "Cancellation of the test in some centres was done keeping the best interests of the students in mind."
To reassure students, he further added that the NTA is constantly in touch with the students via email, messages and voice mail. It may be recalled that students have complained of last-minute exam centre changes via email.
Here are four major mismanagement issues that students faced on August 4, 5, 6 and 7:
Firstly, many students reported that they turned up for the exam on day one (August 4) at their respective centres only to be informed that the exam was postponed at the very last moment. This happened at multiple centres in Delhi wherein notices were put up outside designated centres such as the Titiksha Public School stating that the exam has been postponed due to technical/logistical reasons.
Secondly, on the first day itself, the second shift of the exam was cancelled across all centres and postponed to August 12, with the officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA) citing administrative and technical reasons for the same. They also added that the question paper for this shift could only be uploaded at 5 pm whereas the exam was scheduled to begin at 3 pm.
Thirdly, some students also took to Twitter to complain that although their exam was scheduled for today, August 6, they received their admit cards only this morning and yet, the details about their exam centres were not mentioned on the admit cards. In fact, some students downloaded admit cards that were released today only to find August 5 as the date of the exam.
And last but not the least, on all days of the exam, students also reported technical glitches at the exam centres with several of their systems hanging while they were attempting the exam. One student, who EdexLive got in touch with, informed that at her centre in Aeronautical Engineering Centre in Dundigal, Hyderabad, her first two subjects, Telugu and Biological Science, went smoothly. But when it came to General Test, the questions simply did not appear on the screen.
