CUET conundrum leaves students distressed; now sociology paper replaced with psychology

New Delhi: The Common University Entrance Test (CUET), rolled out with much enthusiasm & gusto, was trumpeted as reformatory step in the admission to Undergraduate Course (UG) in the Central Universities but it is turning out to be a nightmare for a number of students and their parents.

If logistic issues like internet outage, chaos at exam centers, technical glitches were not enough, students are now getting wrong question sets. On August 5, when Delhi university aspirants appeared for CUET they reported receiving Psychology question paper in spite of Sociology. And, this reportedly happened at multiple centers of the capital, from Burari to Rohini and also at some places in Gurugram (Sushant University Exam centre).

In the CUET centers at Burari’s Nalanda Modern Public school and Rohini’s Indraprastha College of Advanced Studies Delhi, students who had opted for Sociology were given Psychology questions sets. Many students at the CUET exam centre in Rohini’s Vijay Vihar witnessed chaotic & distressing times as they got psychology papers instead of Sociology. When they raised the matter to invigilators, the latter asked them not to attempt the question paper and advised them to escalate the matter to National Testing Agency (NTA).

The students, who couldn’t appear for Sociology examinations are worried lot as this will have direct impact on their eligibility for admission in Delhi University. If they fail to appear for exams in stipulated period, they will miss out on getting admission in DU colleges, for no fault of them. What has added to their woes is that a couple of them have repeatedly written and mailed to NTA officials at [email protected] but are still waiting for the response.

The CUET examinations have been marred by various technical glitches and logistic challenges across the country. Hundreds of students have been complaining about the glitches but the reply from NTA officials remains the same – complaints will be addressed & students will be given another chance.

But, the question arises, who will take accountability for glaring loopholes of the system. NTA has been in operation since 2017 and the CUET exams are supposedly India’s second biggest examination, still the situation remains chaotic & messy. It’s time that their grievances are addressed and they are relieved of the mental agony & stressful times.

Data suggest that there is a fierce competition for admission in colleges. Out of 2 lakh students seeking admission in UG courses across the country, there are only 69,500 UG seats up for grabs and that makes the admission even more challenging.