CUET phase 4: Yet again, many candidates return without taking exam

Wednesday’s tests were cancelled in at least 5 centres in Delhi while students in other centres reported technical snags. UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said that the cancellations were because of server problems in the centres and that all affected candidates will get retests.

Ishat Nagpal had one set of CUET papers postponed from August 7 to August 21, which he had been informed about through an e-mail two days before the scheduled test. He had another 4 papers scheduled for Wednesday morning at Guru Hargobind Institute of Management and Information Technology in Anand Vihar, which got canceled only after candidates began writing the test. The result is that he has not yet completed a single CUET paper.

“We were all seated in the centre by 8:30 but the exam didn’t begin for a long time. By 10, everyone started leaving their allotted seats and moving around because of the heat and to drink water. The exam finally began more than two hours later by 10:45 but within five minutes, the server got disconnected for all of us and we were asked to leave,” he said.

Archisman Basu, who had been allotted Gallatin Assessment Centre in Mundka as a centre for his 4 papers on Wednesday, reported a similar experience.

“I was there since 8 am and the exam started at 9 am but the server went off in 10 minutes for all the candidates in one go. Despite this, we were seated in the centre for the full duration of the exams till noon, I think they were trying to fix the issue. Then a representative of the institute came and told us that the exam has been canceled. In response to our objections, he told us that we should complain to the NTA,” he said.

At another centre, Aakash International Senior Secondary School in Nangloi, candidates were met with a notice from the NTA stating that the exam for both shifts on August 17 have been postponed “due to technical/logistical reasons” and that a revised admit card will be issued for August 30-31.

Candidates also reported cancellations at Asia Pacific Institute, Jasola and at M.D. Indraprastha Senior Secondary Public School in Rohini.

Candidates who had their morning slot papers at Vivekananda Institute for Professional Studies in Pitampura said that their exam began more than two hours after the scheduled time and ended two hours late as a consequence.

“The exam started at around 11.30 because we were told the server was down. A team came and fixed it but there were glitches again. The questions were not changing. Then eventually it started working properly and we finished by 2.15,” said Moumita Sarkar, who appeared for 4 papers.