The National Testing Agency (NTA) is again in the eye of the storm after it cancelled the National Common Entrance Test (NCET) at the eleventh hour, affecting more than 200 candidates in Meghalaya and thousands more nationwide.
The test was supposed to be held today but had to be cancelled due to “technical reasons”, the nodal officer at the NTA centre at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) informed.
Candidates had been ready to sit for the exam, which was meant to run from 2pm to 5pm. The test was able to begin at some centres but not at others, forcing the NTA to postpone it nationwide. A new date will be intimated through the NTA and NCET websites (www.nta.ac.in and ncet.samarth.ac.in) and the NTA has expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to candidates. Candidates can phone 011-40759000/011-69227700 or email ncet@nta.ac.in if necessary.
In Meghalaya, an estimated 210 candidates were supposed to appear for the NCET.
At the NEHU centre, the start of the exam was delayed by two hours. It began at 4pm but after an hour, the candidates were told that the examination had been rescheduled.
The inconvenience was massive, especially for outstation sitters, such as those who had travelled all the way from Tura and Jowai. A parent of one candidate from Jowai said that they left home at 8am so that she could reach the examination centre on time.
“My daughter went to the examination centre without having food and after much delay they were told that the examination has been rescheduled for another day,” an aggrieved mother said.
Another parent of a candidate from West Jaintia Hills said that the NCET was scheduled at 2pm and the candidates were asked to reach the centre at 12 noon.
According to the NTA, this year 40,233 candidates registered for NCET 2024.
The NCET is designed for admission to the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in selected central/state universities/institutions, including IITs, NITs, RIEs, and government colleges, covering 66 subjects. These comprised 38 languages, 26 domain subjects, one general test and one teaching aptitude test.
Each candidate was required to take a total of seven subjects, including two languages and three domain subjects besides the compulsory general test and teaching aptitude test.