BENGALURU: The national level entrance test for admission to law schools across the nation, will go offline again from 2019.Considering the technical glitches during CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) 2018, the CLAT consortium took a decided to go offline from 2019. The decision was taken during the 4th meeting of the consortium held at National Law School India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru on October 17.
During the meeting, representatives of several law schools from across the nation — who are members of NLUs consortium — expressed concern over the technical glitches that occurred during the previous CLAT exams and decided to go back to the earlier examination system of conducting it offline. Speaking to The New Indian Express, one of the members of the consortium said, “This decision is made keeping in view the technical glitches that candidates faced during the last few years.”
However, the consortium pointed fingers at service providers for the technical glitches. They also decided to go online when the number of candidates taking up CLAT increases and in case the admission to law colleges across the country becomes based on CLAT scores. Currently, CLAT score is not considered for admission to all law colleges across the nation.
Earlier, during CLAT 2018, candidates and parents alleged that one of centres located in West Bengaluru had started the test at least an hour late. They added that candidates were sent out of the centre in the middle of the exam after they faced technical glitches, taking advantage of which, they referred to books and used their mobile phones. Meanwhile, the consortium also decided to bring out a question bank to improve the quality of CLAT question papers and for this, experts from NLUs across the nation, will be consulted.
“From CLAT 2019, the number of centres will be increased. Along with NLUs, other cities and centres will be considered as test centres to conduct CLAT,” mentioned a member of the consortium.
However, this decision of the consortium received mixed reaction from students planning to appear for CLAT 2019. A student from a Bengaluru-based Pre University college said, “When all competitive/entrance exams are going the online way, it is surprising to hear that CLAT will go offline.”
Another student said, “It would be helpful for candidates from rural background. For those who are not good at using computers, offline mode would be beneficial. Looking at the recent technical issues, this is a good move.”