The National Testing Agency (NTA) came under criticism from several quarters after technical glitches brought chaos at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) during the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
The State BJP has threatened legal action against the agency if there are no satisfactory answers to harassment caused to students.
State BJP spokesperson Arnab Das said the CUET examination was handled in callous and inept manner. “Our hearts go out to the students and their guardians who faced immeasurable physical and mental trauma before the examination. We can only imagine the panic that must have struck. Students need to sit for an examination with a calm mind, and this situation must have seriously affected their ability to answer the question paper,” he said.
He also urged the state Education Department to look into the matter and take appropriate action against the organizers of the CUET.
The Hynñiewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC) has demanded an inquiry and appointment of a State Nodal Officer who would be in direct contact with the NTA besides setting up of a help line number to facilitate and assist the students of the state appearing for the CUET.
The HYC also submitted a letter to Education Minister, Rakkam A Sangma and said persons or officers responsible for the chaos yesterday must be held accountable.
The pressure group also wants the government to communicate to the NTA so there should be no further hindrance and inconvenience caused to the students of the state who are yet to appear the CUET and to ensure that educational institutions in Meghalaya provide an option or navigate mechanism through which students of the state can secure admissions by means other than CUET.
The Education Cell of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) said it was disappointed by the lack of preparedness by both the state government and the university to host such a large-scale examination, particularly security measures to manage the crowd.
According to the KSU the NEHU had assigned two examination centres (Non-Science and Science cluster classrooms) while the NTA admit card referred to the centre as ‘NEHU cluster building’. This exacerbated the confusion as candidates were not assigned the hall based on their roll number.
The KSU also pointed out that the candidates had to endure long waits without proper direction or signage to guide them to the examination hall.
The union also stated that the delay in the commencement of the English subject examination, caused by the malfunctioning biometric system, resulted in students standing in the rain and in a stampede-like situation for extended periods. This led to many candidates fainting and needing medical attention.
They said that the exam, scheduled for 3 pm, could only proceed after 5.15 pm after NEHU received clearance from the NTA to examine without mandatory biometric registration.
The KSU said the government must take immediate action to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future as well as to look into providing better facilities, such as clear signage, adequate seating arrangements, and functioning biometric systems to facilitate a smooth examination process.
