CUET in 3 shifts; merger with JEE, NEET to be announced 2 yrs in advance: UGC

The Common University Entrance Test CUETUG will be conducted in three shifts this year instead of two and plans for its merger with crucial entrance exams like JEE and NEET will be announced at least two years in advance according to UGC chairman M Jagadesh KumarIn an interview to PTI Kumar said the University Grants Commission UGC and the National Testing Agency NTA are prepared to ensure that the second edition of CUETUG is glitch freeI agree there were several glitches during the exam last time but this year all issues have been ironed out Keeping in mind the experience of the students a plan has been chalked out and we are ready to ensure that the candidates just have to worry about the exam and not any glitches he saidExtra computers and extra centres have been arranged as plan B so that in case there are any glitches the candidates can be shifted there and the exam for a particular shift will not be cancelled he addedKumar said that in a deviation from the usual pattern the exam will be conducted in three shifts from this yearAsked about the proposal to merge CUET with engineering entrance exam JEE and medical entrance exam NEET Kumar said It is definitely doable The details are being worked out but whenever the merger happens announcement will be made at least two years in advance so the students can prepare accordinglyThe UGC had in March last year announced that undergraduate admissions will be conducted in all central universities through a common entrance test and not on the basis of class 12 marksThe debut edition of the CUETUG was conducted in July last year and was marred by glitches prompting the NTA to cancel the exam at multiple centres While several students were informed about cancellation a night before the exam many of them were turned away from centresThe UGC chairman had then said the exam at certain centres have been cancelled following reports of sabotageWith 149 lakh registrations the CUET the common gateway for undergraduate admissions in all central universities became the second biggest entrance exam in the country surpassing JEEMains average registration of nine lakhAlso readDelhi Police deny permission for public meeting on Kashmir at the Gandhi Peace Foundation citing possibility of law and order disturbanceWe have already received over 115 lakh registrations this year The deadline has been extended till March 30 and we are expecting the applications to cross last years number Kumar saidAsked about normalisation of scores which left several aspirants disappointed as they found their marks reduced from their original scores making it difficult for them to get their dream college he said efforts have been made to minimise any errors during the processThe schedule of the exam has been compressed this year to 10 days instead of over one and half month in order to minimise any errors in the normalisation as the variation is more when the exam is held over a bigger period of time he saidThe normalisation formula using the equipercentile method has been decided by a panel comprising professors from Indian Statistical Institute IIT Delhi and Delhi UniversityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever