Students' Plight In CUET UG Exam Centres

The CUET UG exam, which was initially scheduled for May 15, had to be postponed due to a shortage of invigilators in Delhi caused by the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This shortage made it difficult to ensure proper supervision during the exam, prompting the National Testing Agency (NTA) to reschedule the exam to May 29 for Delhi centres. 
 

Additionally, the exams scheduled for May 16, 17, and 18 in all centres, including Delhi, will continue as scheduled. For students affected by the postponement, their exams will now take place on May 29. Despite the delay in some centres, the overall exam process began today and will conclude within seven days. 

To address the situation, the NTA advised candidates to bring their previously downloaded admit cards to the exam centres if they couldn't access the updated ones. However, exams in other cities across the country, including Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Noida, will proceed as planned on their original dates. 

Some parents of students taking the CUET UG 2024 exam have complained about sudden changes to exam centers. For example, a student who thought they were going to an exam centre in Delhi found out only on May 14 that their centre had been moved to Faridabad instead.  
 

Deepa Aggarwal, mother of Krishna (son), a student at DAV Public School Pitampura, said, "The centres were getting changed repeatedly. Initially, her son's centre was Desh Bandhu Gupta College. Then there was one school in Tughlaqabad. This information came the day before yesterday. However, when students tried to log in to take printouts, the testing agency's website could not take the load. And then in the evening, they came to know the exam was postponed from 15 to 29 for Delhi students. These were compulsory English and general test papers. While students in other states, even neighbouring Faridabad, could appear for tests, Delhi students suffered. They had made plans for outings after studying hard. And now they have to go through this." 

The recent exam postponement was a nightmare for many, especially students from Delhi. “It was a horrendous experience for me as well as for many thousands of students. In my opinion, it was unfair to Delhi students. This level of mismanagement was not expected from a National level body. I am more concerned for a set of students who must have reached their designated centres this morning and then received the information on the exam being postponed,” said Rayyan Suhail, a student from RSBV, Rajgarh Colony, Delhi. 

“This disruption has affected my other exams, as I could have studied more efficiently for them if the notification had been given earlier. And now that it is May 29, it is a long break to focus on studies continuously, but I will surely try my hardest to focus on them,” says Sayyam Jain, Rockfield Public School, Rohini. 
 

This year's CUET UG exam is being conducted in hybrid mode, with 15 subjects in pen-and-paper mode and 48 subjects in computer-based mode. Over 13.4 lakh candidates have registered for the exam, aiming for admission to undergraduate courses at 261 central, state, deemed, and private universities.