PTI

New Delhi, August 7

Facing criticism over cancellation of the widespread college entrance check (CUET) at some centres, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday stated it was achieved in the very best pursuits of scholars as there have been indications of “sabotage”.

The National Testing Agency introduced that the check which was cancelled final week will now be carried out from August 24 to twenty-eight and contemporary admit playing cards might be issued.

Kumar stated strict motion might be taken towards these discovered concerned in any “wilful sabotage” of the method.

The CUET for admission to undergraduate programs in central universities is being carried out at 489 centres in over 250 cities throughout India and 9 cities overseas.

“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 stated.

“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 experiences that some college students had been turned away from examination venues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman stated the staffers at sure centres ought to have proven extra empathy with college 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 stated.

Several Opposition leaders, together with Rahul Gandhi, have criticised authorities over glitches within the conduct of CUET.

“What is happening with the students of CUET is the story of every youth of the country today,” Gandhi stated.

The second section of CUET-Undergraduate which started on Thursday was marred with glitches inflicting bother to college students who had been despatched again from examination centres.

On Thursday, the primary shift of the examination was cancelled at a number of centres throughout 17 states, whereas the second shift was cancelled in any respect 489 centres. On Friday, the examination was cancelled at 50 centres.

Anticipating related scenario on Saturday, the company cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and despatched messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night time.

“In second phase, the exam scheduled between August 4 to 6 were deferred at a 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,” stated Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, NTA.

A complete 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 stated preserving in thoughts the requests, it was determined that the examination be carried out between August 24 and 28 and contemporary admit playing cards might be issued earlier than the examination date.

The third section of the examination on 17, 18, and 20 August, 2022 might be carried out as per schedule knowledgeable 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 stated.

Noting that some centres didn’t adjust to the laid down protocols, the NTA had on Saturday warned that any incidence of non-compliance, sabotage and ignorance might be seen very severely and strict motion might be taken towards these centres to make sure easy conduct of examinations in future.

UGC Chairman Kumar had in March introduced that CUET scores would be the foundation for admission to 45 central universities which may repair their minimal eligibility standards.

With 14.9 lakh registrations, the CUET is now the second-biggest entrance examination within the nation, surpassing the JEE-Main’s common registration of 9 lakh.

Apart from central universities, 12 state universities, 11 deemed universities, and 19 non-public universities have utilized to take part within the first version of CUET-UG for admissions within the tutorial session 2022-23.