The National Testing Agency (NTA) is making headlines with its recent announcement regarding a retest for CUET-UG candidates. From July 15 to 19, those who have raised grievances about the conduct of the exam will get another shot, provided that their complaints are found valid. This decision was disclosed by officials on Sunday. In addition, the NTA has released the answer key for the undergraduate entrance exam, setting the stage for the eventual announcement of results, despite experiencing delays.
Candidates have until 6 pm on July 9 to submit their challenges to the answer key. “The NTA is also addressing public grievances regarding the exam conducted for CUET-UG that were received up to June 30. If a grievance is found genuine, the NTA is committed to redoing the exam for these candidates at selected centres any day between July 15 and 19,” stated a senior NTA official. Although the officials did not elaborate on the nature of the grievances received, some candidates have cited issues such as loss of time at certain exam centres and technical malfunctions.
Challenges raised by candidates will undergo verification by a panel of subject experts. “Based on the revised final answer key, the result will be declared,” the official added. This delay in CUET-UG results comes amid widespread allegations of irregularities in competitive exams, particularly NEET and NET.
The CUET-UG exam, conducted in a hybrid mode for the first time across the country, faced its own set of challenges. In Delhi, for instance, the exam was canceled a night before due to logistical reasons but was later rescheduled and conducted in the national capital. Initially, the NTA had announced that the third edition of CUET-UG would be wrapped up in seven days, emphasizing that there would be no normalization of scores since all exams would be conducted in a single shift.
. For 15 subjects, the tests were administered in a pen-paper format, while for the remaining 48 subjects, the exam was held in a computer-based format.
Interestingly, over 13.4 lakh candidates registered for this common entrance test, which opens the door to undergraduate courses in 261 central, state, deemed, and private universities this year. Technical glitches marred the first edition of the exam in 2022. Due to tests being conducted over multiple shifts for a subject, scores had to be normalized during the announcement of results.
Adding to the turbulence, the Centre has recently taken significant measures to address the concerns over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including medical entrance exam NEET and the PhD entrance NET. In a bid to restore public confidence, the government removed NTA Director General Subodh Singh last week and appointed a high-level panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief R Radhakrishnan. This committee is tasked with ensuring the transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA.
The NEET exam is under scrutiny for several alleged infractions, including a paper leak. Meanwhile, the UGC-NET faced cancellation due to inputs received by the education ministry suggesting that the integrity of the exam was compromised. Both matters are currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The situation underscores the critical importance of credible and reliable examination processes in the educational journey of millions of students across the country. Consequently, the steps taken by the NTA to address the grievances and ensure the fair conduct of exams are essential for maintaining trust in the education system. As thousands of students await the final results of the CUET-UG exam, the coming days will reveal the effectiveness of these measures and the continued journey toward a more robust and transparent testing framework in India.
