Commonwealth Games kill online CATE

Delhi University decides to stick to pen and paper, citing probable cable problems

Delhi University decides to stick to pen and paper, citing probable cable problems

After CAT, it's time for a CATE and mouse game. Or maybe not.

The Delhi University's Combined Aptitude Test for English (CATE) was to be conducted online from the next academic year. But officials have decided to defer the process by one more year. The reason being, construction work going on at the Commonwealth Games' sites on the university Campus.

The officials fear that in case the construction work damages any underground wires or cables, the exams may come as a cropper and the varsity could lose face.

DU's English Department head Prof Satpathy Sumanyu said: "Commonwealth Games is a big and much awaited event year this year. However we don't want any kind of disturbances during the admissions process. Thousands of students will be appearing for the test and incase any internet cable breaks, we will have to reschedule the exams and carry them out in the old style. The process will be tedious as more colleges are accepting CATE results from this year onwards."

However, the university has introduced an elimination scheme. The written examination will be conducted in two parts. The first part will be based on multiple choice questions and the next round will have subjective

Testing waters

Recently, DU's Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) made a presentation to the English Department and the University on the online test delivery, which according to the English department would make the process smoother. Only the objective part was supposed to be conducted online. In 2009, the Delhi University became one of the first central universities in the country to conduct an online examination for its undergraduate science students. A total of 2,500 students from 27 colleges took their environmental science paper of the B.Sc course online. Earlier in the month of September 2009, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) also approached ILLL to help them in conducting their internal semester exams online.

questions. Students not qualifying in the first round would automatically become ineligible. The exam is slated to be held in the first week of June.

"We have not decided on the cut-off marks yet. However the qualifying marks in the first section will be somewhere between 40 and 45. Total weightage of the CATE exam will be 70 per cent and the remaining will depend on the student's Class 12th Board results," added Sumanyu.

This year the forms will also be available at all the colleges accepting CATE results. Till last year forms could be purchased and deposited only at the Arts Faulty in the University. The colleges recognising CATE include Lady Sri Ram College, Miranda House, Bhagat Singh College, Deshbandhu College, among others.

Last year, the first ever common entrance test conducted by the English Department in DU for English (Hons) aspirants, was held on June 17 at 12 colleges. Approximately 6,700 students had appeared for the test for the 350 available seats in DU colleges. The number of students is expected to reach almost 10,000 this year.