About 12,000 students out of 2,40,000 affected; officials assure re-examination
About 12,000 students out of 2,40,000 affected; officials assure re-examinationAs soon as the Common Application Test (CAT) examination for admission into the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) began, a server crash stalled the tests in most centres in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bengaluru and Pune. About 12,000 students, among the 2,40,000 who were taking the exam, were affected.
The CAT test will go on until December 7.
Ulhas Vairagkar, director of Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), a preparatory school for IIM aspirants, says, "We got calls from students in six cities, saying they were not able to give the test because
the computer system crashed. The (affected) students have been told they can take another time slot."
Whereas this server crash problem occurred in most cities, Mumbai was not majorly affected, said officials from Prometric, an American firm that developed the computer system for CAT.
In some centres, problems like the timer not appearing and the password not being accepted were observed.
Jaideep Singh Choudhary, spokesperson of TIME institute, says, "If students have missed their examination because of not being informed of the change in centre, they should immediately mail Prometric officials to get another chance to appear."
Students who arrived at M H Saboo Siddik College of Engineering at Byculla on Saturday were in shock to hear that their examination centre had been changed to Saraswati College of Engineering in Kharghar. Heena Das, a student of Ratnam College in Bhandup, says, "I reached Saboo Siddik College, but now they are saying we have to go to Saraswati college in Kharghar. How will I reach there in two hours? I have lost one year now."
Soumitra Roy, Managing Director, India, Prometric, says, "As a result of isolated technical issues, some candidates are being rescheduled and provided a new appointment via email and SMS." Professor, Satish Deodhar, Convener of CAT 2009, says, "There were teething problems, which are expected on the first day of the test. It went smoothly at most of the 105 centres across Mumbai."
CAT scores determine entry to the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Lucknow, Kozhikode and Shillong as well as the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, Institute of Management Training in Ghaziabad, Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad and Wellingkar Institute of Management Development and Research in Mumbai.
