New Delhi, December 16
The Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) today decided to stick to online testing for students who could not write CAT 2009 due to glitches that marred the exam between November 28 and December 8, the initial testing period. Ruling out the pen and paper format, they said computer-based testing (CBT) was the only way forward.
Fresh test for students affected by the CAT crash will be held in the middle of January, CAT committee today said, adding that final results could be delayed by some time.
“To be fair to 96 per cent of candidates, who have successfully taken the CBT for CAT 2009, and to give those who have been adversely affected a fair chance to write the test, we have decided to organise another testing date in the middle of January 2010,” said Director of the IIM Bangalore Pankaj Chandra. The members of the CAT committee today assured the government that they would do their best for the students. They had been called in by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to do the explaining, but were left off with an advice to exercise caution.
On the given date, IIMS will only invite candidates who remain to be tested and those who, through their review, are found to be genuinely affected by glitches during the last testing occasion. “We are in the process of setting up criteria that will be used to objectively select candidates who faced problems,” Chandra said. Intimations to students would be sent out through e-ails, SMSs and IIM websites.
Some 2,00 candidates rescheduled from the first testing window would also be tested in January. Asked if
any system could guarantee full fairness, IIM directors exhibited confidence, saying they had enough evidence, computer logs of candidates and video footages from labs to tell which student was affected. They have already received 239 complaints.
Meanwhile, IIMs today said result files of students were intact. Regretting glitches, the directors added that “the execution of CBT test had not been flawless, but CBT was still the way forward.” This year, 2.42 lakh sat for CAT and 2.16 lakh completed it successfully; 24, 000 did not turn up for the exam. That the IIMs are concerned about their reputation was clear, with Barua saying that the five-year contract with Prometric, the firm that conducted the test, would be reviewed.
