New Delhi: On Wednesday night Ministry of Education announced the cancellation of UGC The NET June 2024 exam will be held a day earlier i.e. on Tuesday, 18 June 2024. This decision of the ministry has come amid the uproar over the medical entrance exam. Examination The NEET exam has been postponed over alleged irregularities. The UGC NET exam is now being reviewed. neet ug Line, Candidate and stakeholders have raised concerns about NTAOrganising examinations.TOI spoke to several candidates who took the UGC NET June 2024 exam on June 18 across various states and centres. Here is what we learnt about the glitches and issues. Irregularities This was seen in this year’s test.
The registration process was smooth on the day of the exam, but there were anomalies too
According to information received by Times of India, in an unprecedented move, the NTA has affixed ‘hologram stickers’ at the time of registration of candidates at the designated exam centre. The process requires candidates to hand over their admit card in person at the registration helpdesk before entering their exam hall. After this, the identity of the candidate is verified after cross-checking with their Aadhaar card and biometric verification. Only if the details match will the NTA officials affix a hologram sticker on the admit card of the candidate.
However, speaking to a candidate, TOI learnt that the hologram stickers were pasted after the candidates entered the exam hall and after the exam had begun. Pritam Singh Yadav, whose exam centre was in Prayagraj (Allahabad), said, “The hologram stickers were not pasted outside. When the exam began, NTA staff came in and pasted the hologram stickers.”
In Bihar’s Danapur, students were forced to sit for longer than the exam time
At a centre in Danapur, Bihar, candidates were made to sit for about forty minutes even after the exam was over. Bhavya Jha, who took the exam from a centre in Danapur, says, “After the exam, the officials came and told us that we have to wait for 10-15 minutes because the fingerprint data recorded for biometric verification was lost for the entire centre and everyone was forced to sit for 30-40 minutes more. We left after 6:30 pm, the exam ended at 6 pm.”
As per NTA guidelines, candidates are asked to take back their admit cards instead of submitting them
During entrance exams conducted by NTA, candidates are usually required to provide their left thumb impression, a photograph and a signature on the admit card in the presence of an invigilator on the day of the exam. Thereafter, the invigilators retain the admit cards after the exam. However, despite these guidelines, candidates from various states informed TOI that during the UGC NET June 2024 exam, their admit cards were not retained as instructed. Instead, they were allowed to take back the hall ticket. It should be mentioned here that the admit card should include an additional photograph and thumb impression to facilitate cross-verification of candidates during identity verification processes. Also Read
Candidates faced problems due to poor infrastructure
There were also reports of students fainting in the examination hall due to heat at many centres. Some candidates said that there was no arrangement for drinking water. Apart from this, there were not enough fans in the examination hall. This created a difficult situation for the candidates taking the exam.
“We were not getting water to drink. However, some candidates who fainted due to heat were given water. Last year, candidates had the option to ask for water, which was brought, but this year water was not provided despite adverse weather conditions,” Bhavya said.
Another candidate from Chandigarh named Shubhanjal also narrated a similar incident. Recalling a particular incident, he says, “A student was finding it very difficult to stay in the examination hall (due to the heat) and was constantly going in and out of the room.”
Diwakar (name changed on request), a candidate at Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh exam centre, described the ordeal of sitting for three hours without a fan or drinking water. “A big water canister was kept for 4-5 classrooms on the entire floor, but it got empty very quickly and was not refilled, so we had to wait till the exam was over,” he said.
UGC-NET June 2024 was conducted in offline OMR mode unlike CBT mode in previous years
The National Testing Agency has reintroduced the offline pen-paper (OMR) based exam this year. Since December 2018, UGC NET has been conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, but NTA had announced that the June 2024 UGC NET exam will be conducted in offline mode, marking a change from the established CBT format, much to the dismay of candidates. “Online was better, it takes time to circle the OMR sheet, one has to be extra careful to avoid markings on the sheet,” says Bhavya.
The registration process was smooth on the day of the exam, but there were anomalies too
According to information received by Times of India, in an unprecedented move, the NTA has affixed ‘hologram stickers’ at the time of registration of candidates at the designated exam centre. The process requires candidates to hand over their admit card in person at the registration helpdesk before entering their exam hall. After this, the identity of the candidate is verified after cross-checking with their Aadhaar card and biometric verification. Only if the details match will the NTA officials affix a hologram sticker on the admit card of the candidate.
However, speaking to a candidate, TOI learnt that the hologram stickers were pasted after the candidates entered the exam hall and after the exam had begun. Pritam Singh Yadav, whose exam centre was in Prayagraj (Allahabad), said, “The hologram stickers were not pasted outside. When the exam began, NTA staff came in and pasted the hologram stickers.”
In Bihar’s Danapur, students were forced to sit for longer than the exam time
At a centre in Danapur, Bihar, candidates were made to sit for about forty minutes even after the exam was over. Bhavya Jha, who took the exam from a centre in Danapur, says, “After the exam, the officials came and told us that we have to wait for 10-15 minutes because the fingerprint data recorded for biometric verification was lost for the entire centre and everyone was forced to sit for 30-40 minutes more. We left after 6:30 pm, the exam ended at 6 pm.”
As per NTA guidelines, candidates are asked to take back their admit cards instead of submitting them
During entrance exams conducted by NTA, candidates are usually required to provide their left thumb impression, a photograph and a signature on the admit card in the presence of an invigilator on the day of the exam. Thereafter, the invigilators retain the admit cards after the exam. However, despite these guidelines, candidates from various states informed TOI that during the UGC NET June 2024 exam, their admit cards were not retained as instructed. Instead, they were allowed to take back the hall ticket. It should be mentioned here that the admit card should include an additional photograph and thumb impression to facilitate cross-verification of candidates during identity verification processes. Also Read
Candidates faced problems due to poor infrastructure
There were also reports of students fainting in the examination hall due to heat at many centres. Some candidates said that there was no arrangement for drinking water. Apart from this, there were not enough fans in the examination hall. This created a difficult situation for the candidates taking the exam.
“We were not getting water to drink. However, some candidates who fainted due to heat were given water. Last year, candidates had the option to ask for water, which was brought, but this year water was not provided despite adverse weather conditions,” Bhavya said.
Another candidate from Chandigarh named Shubhanjal also narrated a similar incident. Recalling a particular incident, he says, “A student was finding it very difficult to stay in the examination hall (due to the heat) and was constantly going in and out of the room.”
Diwakar (name changed on request), a candidate at Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh exam centre, described the ordeal of sitting for three hours without a fan or drinking water. “A big water canister was kept for 4-5 classrooms on the entire floor, but it got empty very quickly and was not refilled, so we had to wait till the exam was over,” he said.
UGC-NET June 2024 was conducted in offline OMR mode unlike CBT mode in previous years
The National Testing Agency has reintroduced the offline pen-paper (OMR) based exam this year. Since December 2018, UGC NET has been conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, but NTA had announced that the June 2024 UGC NET exam will be conducted in offline mode, marking a change from the established CBT format, much to the dismay of candidates. “Online was better, it takes time to circle the OMR sheet, one has to be extra careful to avoid markings on the sheet,” says Bhavya.
