MillenniumPost
Big Story

CUET cancelled at some centres after reports of sabotage, says UGC chief

CUET cancelled at some centres after reports of sabotage, says UGC chief
X

New Delhi: Noting that there were reports and indications of "sabotage" in the conduct of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday said the exam at certain centres was cancelled keeping the best interest of students in mind.

Kumar said strict action will be taken against anyone involved in "wilful sabotage" of the process.

"There were reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA (National Testing Agency) immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility. Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process," Kumar said.

"Cancellation of the test in some centres was done keeping the best interests of the students in mind. NTA is constantly in touch with the students through email, messaging and voice mail to keep them informed of the changes and extra care is being taken in this regard," he added.

On reports that some students were turned away from exam venues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman said the staffers at certain centres should have shown more empathy with students.

"More school teachers are being deployed as they have more experience of dealing with the students with empathy. Due to the efforts and corrective actions taken by NTA, we are hopeful that in the coming days, the CUET-UG will be conducted smoothly," he said.

The CUET is being conducted for admission to undergraduate courses in central universities.

The CUET-UG for candidates, who were affected by cancellations last week owing to technical glitches, will now be conducted from August 24 to 28.

Fresh admit cards will be issued for these candidates, they said.

"In second phase, the exam scheduled between August 4 to 6 were deferred at few centres due to administrative and technical reasons. Earlier, we had announced the exams would be conducted from August 12-14. NTA had also given an option to the affected candidates to choose dates other than these dates in case the schedule was not suitable to them," said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, National Testing Agency(NTA).

A total of "15,811 candidates requested a date different from 12 to 14 August 2022. Similarly, many candidates have approached NTA requesting not to schedule their examination between 12 to 14 August as a series of festivals are falling during this period. Also, many candidates had requested for date or city change as the cities allotted to them in Phase II (04 to 06 August 2022) were not suitable to them," she added. The NTA official said that keeping in mind the requests, it was decided that the exam be conducted between August 24 and 28 and fresh admit cards will be issued before the examination date.

The third phase of the examination on 17, 18, and 20 August, 2022 will be conducted as per schedule informed earlier to the candidates.

"NTA has also created an exclusive grievance redressal e-mail. The grievances of candidates regarding subject combination, medium, question paper (if any) can be sent to cuetgrievance@nta.ac.in. Candidates must mention their Application Number while sending their grievance," Parashar said.

Next Story
Share it