NEW DELHI: The second edition of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) 2023 will be held from Sunday across the country, except in Jammu and Kashmir and riot-hit Manipur.
According to UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar, in the first phase - from May 21 to 25 - as many as 8 lakh students are slated to take the exam. A total of 13.95 lakh students have paid the fees for the examination for admission to various undergraduate courses.
About 200 papers in all subjects are scheduled in this phase. As the debut edition of the CUET-UG last year was marred by technical glitches, cancellations and exam centre woes, this time, the UGC chairperson said that the National Testing Agency (NTA) had taken all measures to test the readiness of all centres regarding computers, network infrastructure and security.
“SoPs are given to observers and invigilators for all centres. Dummy tests have been conducted to check for any possible issues. Extra computers have been arranged at each centre. In case of any unforeseen problems with computers, students can be quickly shifted to these computers,” Kumar told this newspaper.
But days before the second edition exams were to begin, students from Jammu and Kashmir complained that their examination centres were in far off places, some even in different states, for which they had to travel hundreds of kilometres. The same problem was witnessed in the debut exams when students had to travel to other states to take the exam.
After the hue and cry, UGC and NTA announced that exams in Jammu and Kashmir have been deferred. Now, exams in Jammu and Kashmir will be held from May 26. NTA is now trying to find additional examination centres with the help of the local administration. As many as 87,309 candidates are taking the exam this year in the union territory, up from 13,021 students last year. Exams have also been deferred in Manipur, which was rocked by violence earlier this month.
NTA ready
CUET-UG last year was marred by tech glitches, cancellations and exam centre woes, this time, the NTA had taken all measures to test the readiness of all centres regarding computers, network infrastructure and security