CHENNAI: The latest postponement of the Central University Entrance Test (CUET- UG) from August 12-14 to August 24-28 has left many students in the State anxious and clueless about their higher education.
Conceptualised by the UGC to give a level playing field for every student, the exam has become a headache for many with recurrent postponements due to technical glitches. Many students have even preferred to take admission in private universities to avoid further agony and trauma.
The exam, which was held between August 4 and 6, was marred by technical issues in several places and a subsequent retest was scheduled to be held between August 12 and 14. However, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the test, issued another notice further pushing the dates for the retest “considering students’ requests”.
The further delay has irked the students and even confused many that whether they need to appear for the retest or is it just for those who were not happy with their performance in the August 4-6 test.
“Writing an entrance test is always tough but writing it twice is worse. I don’t know whether they will be able to conduct it properly even on the rescheduled dates,” said Kavitha Shankaran, who aspires to study in University of Hyderabad.
While K Advait, unable to deal with the CUET conundrum, has taken admission in a private university in management quota. “I prepared so hard for CUET as I wanted to study in JNU, but there is no end to the glitches in the test. I cannot handle the mental agony anymore so I have taken admission in a private university in Coimbatore,” said Advait.
Not just the students, even institutes like Central University, Tamil Nadu (CUTN); and Avinashilingam University for Women, Coimbatore, which have their admissions through CUET this year, are worried as a delay in academic session is inevitable.
CUTN officials said the academic session for UG students, which usually starts by the end of July, will only start by mid-September this year, that too, only if everything goes smoothly from now. “It is our duty to conduct the exam properly so we will take every measure to ensure a smooth conduct,” said M Krishnan, Vice Chancellor of CUTN.
Meanwhile, Avinashilingam deemed-to-be-university, which has reserved only 20% of its seats for CUET candidates, has completed admission for the remaining seats based on merit. “As CUET was getting delayed, we started our own admission process as we can’t let the students suffer and delay the academic year,” said SP Thyagarajan, Chancellor of the university.