CUET aspirants complain about lack of time to prepare

NEW DELHI: The stress has increased manifold among students ever since the admit cards for the CUET-2022 were issued, with the aspirants complaining about a lack of time to prepare for the examination and no knowledge about their examination centres. The debut edition of the CUET-UG will be conducted from July 15 to August 10.

The "city intimation slips" were issued to the students on Monday. "On Monday, only our admit cards came. Many of us have been given three days to prepare for the most important examination of our life," said Himanshu (16), a Common University Entrance Test (CUET) aspirant. Moreover, there is no clarity as regards the examination centre as the "city intimation slip" only mentions the city's name, not that of the centre. "It is written on the website that the examination city can also be changed in case of a large number of students. There is a lot of uncertainty," Himanshu said.

Students say they are not satisfied with the date sheet as the papers are either falling on the same day or in the first few days of the examination. They feel it provides an "unfair" advantage to others as they will get ample time to prepare and also an idea about the pattern of the examination. A few aspirants have got all their examinations on the same day. According to National Testing Agency (NTA) officials, students should not get worried as they have been issued the "city intimation slips" for the examination centre.

"Advance intimation slips for the examination city to all candidates with the date of the examination and the city of the examination are being issued. The City Intimation Slip for each candidate has information relating to the subjects, language and medium offered in Slot 1 and Slot 2 as well as the date and the city allotted," a senior NTA official said. "The admit card of the first phase, showing the details of the examination centre, have been available for download from 6 pm on July 12," he added. On Monday, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said at least 98 per cent candidates appearing for the CUET will be allotted the exam centres in the cities of their choice.

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The CUET is a centralised common entrance test for admission to undergraduate programmers in over 90 universities across the country, including Delhi University. Due to a large number of subjects, a unique date sheet for every individual candidate has been created. The unique combination method is "quite confusing" and "convoluted" for the students. The lack of guidance is being equally felt by the students and their parents. "It is quite confusing and convoluted. We are among the educated class and our children used to look up to us for guidance. Now, we have no idea about the examination. We are equally clueless," said Jyoti, whose daughter is scheduled to appear in the CUET in August.

For Ramya Shukla (18), the lack of guidance is adding additional pressure on her. She said a major problem is that the syllabus is not just what they have studied in Classes 11 and 12 but contains "extra" elements too. "I have not taken any coaching. I am employing the hit-and-run method. I have no idea what questions will come in the examination. The only relief is that my examination is in August. But I feel bad for my friends, many of whom have an examination in the first few days," she said. "The syllabus of the CUET also includes the part that was removed by the NCERT from the Class 11 and 12 examinations," she added. The tests for all the six subjects Shukla has chosen have fallen on the same day. One would expect her to be worried but Shukla said she is "so done" with examinations that she is glad that all her subject exams are on the same day. "I do no know whether to take it as blessings or bad luck. But I am so done with examinations -- first CBSE Class 12, then a few entrance tests and now the CUET -- I just want to be done with it," she said.

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Shukla's friend Jugneesha Agarwal has an examination on July 15. She feels the situation would have been better if the date sheet was released a few weeks ago. "It is unfair. We have been given only a few days to prepare for the examination. Those who have an exam on July 15 are among the most unlucky ones," she added.

Moreover, the parents are facing additional financial pressure because of the coaching fees. "If they want to end the importance of the CBSE boards, they should have prepared the children accordingly, because now we are paying extra for the coaching classes. The CBSE exams ended last month and now the students have to prepare for this examination. The parents are paying a large sum of money for the entrance tests," Agarwal added.

Earlier in the day, Kumar said the UGC has asked the universities to fix their deadlines for admission to undergraduate courses after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declares its Class-12 exam results. Noting that some universities have started their admission process even though the CBSE is yet to declare the Class-12 exam results, Kumar said this will lead to the board's students being deprived of seats in these institutes.