Reports of sabotage among reasons for CUET cancellation, says UGC Chairman

Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar had further said that strict action would be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the examination process.

Representational photo of CUET candidates at Delhi University Sports Complex in New Delhi | ANI

New Delhi: There were reports of sabotage of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) from certain centres, which is why the entrance exams had to be cancelled and postponed, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar said Sunday.

The second phase of the CUET exam, which is meant for admission to undergraduate courses across the country in many central, states and deemed to be universities, was scheduled for 4, 5 and 6 August. On Friday, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that the exams of 4 and 5 August were rescheduled and cancelled.

Earlier on Sunday, Kumar had announced that the CUET second phase exams postponed to 12-14 August had been further postponed to 24 to 28 August, as a series of festivals were falling on the previous dates.

The chairman said, “Due to technical glitches in some of the centres, the rest had to be rescheduled. At some centres, the staff should have shown more empathy with the students. There were also reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility.”

“Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process,” he added, further stating, “CUET-UG is a mammoth exercise being conducted by NTA spanning 61 subjects in 13 languages across the nation.”

He also said that the interest of students had been “paramount” in the conduct of exams.

“Cancellation of the test in some centres was done keeping the best interests of the students in mind. NTA is constantly in touch with the students through email, messaging and voice mail to keep them informed of the changes and extra care is being taken in this regard,” he added.

A special email id  [e-mail] has been created to receive and address students’ queries and grievances.

UGC and NTA are now deploying more teachers to deal with students as they have more experience in dealing with students with empathy.

“Due to the efforts and corrective actions taken by NTA, we are hopeful that in the coming days, the CUET-UG will be conducted smoothly,” the chairman said.