The first day of the first phase of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) kicked off on a relatively smooth note, but significant delays were reported in the second and third slots from several exam centres in Delhi-NCR “due to technical reasons”.
Students and parents started lining up at the examination centres on a sweltering Sunday from 6 am onwards, as the first slot was to begin at 8.30 am for which students were required to reach at least two hours in advance. The exam is scheduled in three slots between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm.
However, at some centres, the second and third slots, which were supposed to end by 2:30 pm and 6:30 pm, respectively, went on till late evening stretching up to 8 pm.
Amid confusion about locating the examination centres and second and third slot exams being delayed by about two-three hours at several centres, including those in Greater Noida and northwest Delhi’s Rohini and Shakti Nagar, students who had to take the test in both slots had to wait much longer.
Aditya Kumar, a Delhi-based student, raised the issue with the National Testing Agency (NTA) on social media, posting the picture of a notice pasted outside the exam centre in Rohini, which read “CUET-UG 3r shift exam candidate entry will be taken at 7 pm. Shift 2 is getting delayed because of some technical issue.”
“How could this be tolerated?? Student are in confusion due to this and facing lots of problems and even parents are suffering from such activities.. is this the truth of digital India @DG_NTA #CUETUG #CUET2023 ?”, said Kumar in his tweet.
Admitting to the delays at a few centres, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said, “The problem was seen only in few centres. TCS and NTA are resolving this issue. The test will happen even if it is delayed due to a technical problem. They are working on it.”
THE DELAYS
“The first slot also started late here, which was supposed to be held between 8.30 am and 10.30 am, while students were not let out even till 11.30 am. Moreover, there was confusion about which gate students will exit from, even as candidates for the second slot started lining up at the gate. We were asked to go from one point to another to wait for our children, while the entire stretch was blocked because of the crowd. We came here at 6 am and it’s about noon now. There should have been better arrangement,” said Atul Garg, a parent waiting for his daughter outside the exam centre at Shakti Nagar.
While the first shift had a total of 87,879 candidates, the second shift had 87,903 students across the country. The number of candidates in the third shift is yet to be updated by the NTA. News18 will update the story once the figures are released by the agency.
“Shift 1 of CUET-UG concluded well in all the 271 cities and 447 centres. The total number of candidates scheduled in shift 1 were 87,879. Shift 2 of CUET-UG concluded well in all 272 cities and 448 centres. The total number of candidates scheduled in shift 1 were 87,903,” UGC chief said.
Last year’s debut edition of the test was marred by both technical and administrative glitches, including last-minute changes in exam centres, students running from one centre to another, centres falling short of enough computers and frequent snapping of internet connection with the NTA having to cancel the test on the spot at several instances. Last year, the exam was held between July 15 and August 10.
EXAM ANALYSIS
Most students found the exam relatively easy, except for a part of the general test, which they said was slightly difficult, as it had questions from mathematics and current affairs. Sunday’s exam was of English and general test.
“While English was easy and mostly based on what we had studied in class 12, there were several math questions in the general test, which were slightly tough,” said Navya Soni, who wants to get into one of the top colleges in Delhi University.
Most students said that they had prepared on their own and did not take any professional coaching for CUET-UG. “The exam was quite easy. Only the GK part was somewhat difficult, as it had some math equations as well as some from current affairs. I am confident of cracking it,” said Yash Singh Bisht, a student.
This year, the first phase of the test is scheduled from May 21-24, while it will be conducted in several phases over 12 days till June 6.
CUET-UG for admission to undergraduate courses in central universities and other participating institutions is the second-largest entrance exam in the country in terms of number of applicants. A total of 14.99 lakh students have applied for the test this year, as compared to 9.9 lakh last year.
