NEW DELHI: The Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate programmes is round the corner with the examinations scheduled to begin from May 21. Having worked on the technical glitches that surfaced last year, the inaugural year of CUET, the National Testing Agency, which conducts the exams, hopes for a smoother execution this year.

The candidates too can look forward to a less stressful time with increased time slots for appearing for a paper, increased variation in questions and an increase in the maximum number of papers that a student can opt for.

TIMESVIEW

The CUET is an important examination for students. Last year, it was riddled with technical glitches and raised the anxiety levels of many students and their parents. One hopes it is better organised this time

Speaking to TOI, M. Jagadesh Kumar, chairperson, University Grants Commission, said that relevant technical checks had been carried out to ensure a snag-free exams. "The exam centre servers, computer terminals and network infrastructure have been tested for proper functionality. The time for uploading and downloading question papers was assessed by checking the internet speed at different centres," said Kumar. With the number of applicants increasing to 14.9 lakh this year, Kumar said that CUET would have to be conducted in three slots instead of two slots.

Besides the technical flaws last year, the first year of CUET, there were last-minute changes in exam centres and mass cancellation of tests and delays in exam dates besides students having to travel long distances from their homes to the exam centres.

Several schools have conducted workshops and provided coaching to help their students get scores that will gain them admission to undergraduate programmes in 250 universities across the country. Priyanka Gulati, principal, Evergreen Public School, said, "We have conducted some workshops, including at the beginning of Class XII, so the students balance their efforts for their board exam and CUET. A couple of workshops were conducted in the middle and towards the end of the academic session, meant mostly to make them aware of how to prepare for the exams."

Government Co-ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 8, Rohini, has been providing coaching for the general aptitude and language papers. "The students are now requesting subject paper coaching, but we have told them these are texts they have studied during the year," said principal AK Jha.

Keshav Agarwal, president, Educators Society, a consortium of around 300 coaching centres in the city, said the important change being introduced this year is the extra time for students appearing for practical papers. "Last year, many students weren't able to complete their papers. It is not possible to complete mathematics, physics and some other papers in 45 minutes," said Agarwal. "However, this year too, the problem of the syllabus remains. This batch followed a pandemic-hit 30% syllabus when CUET considers the full syllabus."

In 2022, the science percentile score was lower than humanities and commerce. This is a big problem for students who have not been able to afford coaching classes. However, for many others, the pre-CUET jitters are much less this year since they have been preparing for a year now.

Anjali Rakshit, an aspirant, said, "Last year, our seniors hardly had any time to prepare for CUET and all the glitches and delays left people wondering what was happening. However, I enrolled in a coaching institute last year and this is why I am feeling more relaxed."

Stating that apart from guidance received for the general test and other domain-specific subjects, Ishayu Mazumdar, another aspirant, also got coaching. "It's been a year since I enrolled in a coaching centre to prepare for CUET. Apart from this, there were also counselling sessions available in our school for which we could enrol separately. Because the entire process is very technical, I found such sessions quite helpful," said Mazumdar.