The fourth round of the Central University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG was marred by technical issues once again on Wednesday, with a number of students claiming that the exam was cancelled at their individual centres.
Students from a number of institutions, including the Guru Hargobind Institute of Management and Information Technology in Delhi, the Asia Pacific Institute in the Jasola (Delhi) AIS Assessment Zone, the Aakash International Senior Secondary School in Nangloi, Delhi, and the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies in Pitampura, claimed they were told to leave the room due to server issues and technical difficulties.
"CUET exam scheduled today(17 Aug) 3P.M at Jhankar College For MBA in Gurgaon, Babra Bakipur P.O Jamalpur,Haryana 122503 has not started till 7:00 P.M.
Children/candidates & parents have traveled from all over NCR. Kindly have a look," tweeted a student who was scheduled to appear for their examination on Wednesday.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) said all the affected candidates will get a chance for a retest.
"At few centres, there was server problem. All the affected candidates will get a chance for a retest," UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar told the media.
Additionally, some students asserted that their exam began at least two hours later than expected.
Devyani, who had travelled to Pitampura for her CUET, said, "We waited for two hours for the exam to begin in the first shift. Some of the students were also sent back citing technical glitches."
Another student who did not wish to be identified said, "It is a total mess. The fourth phase is being conducted and the exam cancellations are still going on. Such an experiment with our careers and academic lives."
With around 3.6 lakh students set to take the exam, the fourth phase has begun.
For undergraduate admissions at all central universities, the CUET serves as the standard entry point.
The exam for an extra 11,000 candidates, who were scheduled to show up in the fourth round from August 17–20, has been moved to August 30, according to officials, to allow for their choice of location as the centre.
All phases of the CUET-UG were supposed to end on August 20 according to the original design. The exam will be completed in its entirety on August 28 according to a later announcement made by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is in charge of administering it.
However, now the schedule has been further deferred and the exam has been split into six phases.
"The exam for over 11,000 candidates, out of 3.72 lakh candidates, has been postponed to August 30 to accommodate their choice of city for exam center.
The NTA has increased the capacity at centres and also added more exam centres, besides making efforts to ensure the quality of the centres is enhanced," UGC chairman Kumar had announced.
Problems with the CUET's second phase forced the agency to cancel the exam at several centres.
According to Kumar, several centres canceled the exam due to "sabotage" signs and reports. Rain and landslides caused the second and third parts of the exam to be cancelled at centres in Kerala and Itanagar as well.
"Please don't delay in official procedures. Complete the processes within one month and please conduct the combined CUET in December 2022 /January 2023 and May 2023," tweeted one student.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
