NTA has been in a hot soup after NEET grace marks row. NEET UG results were released on June 4, and students, parents, and eminent names in the education sectors were vocal with accusations of malfeasance. With the NEET controversy fresh, students are now raising their voices regarding the alleged mismanagement during the conduct of CUET UG 2024 in May. 

Three Immediate Concerns with NEET 2024:

• Awarding of Grace Marks to Particular Students

• Allegations of Leaked Question Paper

• Irregularities at specific exam centres

The review committee for NEET UG 2024 Results subsequently cancelled the scorecards of 1,563 students who received grace marks. These students have the option of re-tests on June 23, 2024. 

The student community is now actively vocalising their concerns regarding the mismanagements in CUET UG 2024. Dipanwita P, of Ghaziabad, says that she had travelled to Delhi for CUET UG exams on May 15 but could not sit for the exam as it was cancelled due to ‘unavoidable reasons’ cited by the NTA. She is not alone in this plight, as numerous students blame the NTA for mishandling CUET.

Concerns Regarding CUET 2024

NTA’s official handle on X (Formerly Twitter) released a tweet at 11:30 pm notifying about the cancellation of CUET UG exams in Delhi centres. This took a lot of students by surprise. Some found out about the cancellation after reaching the exam center. 

Anooran Singh, a student from Delhi whose centre was Evergreen School, stated, “The NTA website crashed on 15th of May. I slept the day before the exam, and the next day I reached the exam centre to find a notice stating that CUET exams were cancelled. It affected my preparations as again I had to prepare for the re-test.” 

Alisha Khan, another student, stated, “I found out about the cancellation of exam at 9:30 am. I did not know whether it was real or fake news. My friends in Noida were sitting for the exam while I was stranded. I tried to verify from the official website which crashed, and it made me so anxious.”

The postponement of exams in Delhi due to reasons that NTA has still not disclosed affected a lot of students adversely. Many lost the flow of preparation and had to face the delay in exams. Many had travelled to Delhi from neighbouring states and had to bear the costs of transportation and accommodation that went in vain. 

CUET Mismanagement?

A student who wished to remain anonymous laments that he was not allowed to appear for CUET UG exams on May 16. He claims that this was due to mismanagement of NTA and through no fault of his own. He was quoted saying, “I downloaded my updated admit card where it was stated that my exam centre was at Karawal Nagar, Delhi. But, 15 minutes before the exam, I got an automated call from the NTA asking me to re-download my admit card. Now, my test centre was changed to Hansraj College without prior notice. I rushed there but was denied entry as I was late. How is it my fault? Why was the change notified so late?”

In Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a question paper for English Medium was distributed to Hindi medium students. There were mass allegations of paper leak, following which the exam was cancelled. 

Sristi Bagoria, Noida’s Resident, stated that she was allotted an exam centre 900 km away despite that not being one of her preferences.

Reports also arrived of the chaos on May 15, 2024. Multiple schools allotted as test centres were not found on Google Maps. There were multiple schools with similar names, which confused students and parents further. 

CUET UG Mismanagements: Will it be a Trend?

With students now awaiting CUET Results 2024, discussions have been rife on reddit and X about the trends of mismanagement of CUET UG over the years. Students ask if this will be the norm from now or will there be changes in the future for the better? 

Last minute changes in test centres, cancellation of exams, paper leaks, mismanagement in paper distribution in exam centres, lack of communication by the NTA, are repeated concerns highlighted by the student community every year. CUET aspirants wonder if the remaining processes of CUET UG 2024 this year such as release of Answer Keys, Results, Counselling, etc will be marred with controversies or will NTA Redeem itself.