The Hindu : New Delhi News : CAT Day Two: Glitches remain

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Monday, Nov 30, 2009
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CAT Day Two: Glitches remain

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Glitches at the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) 2009 continued on Day Two with the examination being cancelled at five computer laboratories in three centres of the Capital where it was to be held on Sunday.

Examinations scheduled at 49 laboratories in Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur and Varanasi were also cancelled on Sunday.

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) website stated that Prometric, which is conducting the examinations for the IIMs, had scheduled the closure of labs at Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Delhi School of Professional Studies and Management of Education and Research Institute here.

Since a centre can have more than one laboratory for the examinations, students appeared for the CAT in laboratories where no problems were reported.

A spokesperson at a centre in the Capital said: “About 200 students appeared for the exam in the morning and the evening sessions on Sunday. On Saturday, the centre, which has a seating capacity of 190, received more than 300 students during the two sessions.”

“About 20 students faced a problem at our centre on Saturday. The problem arose when some students pressed the “end test” button by mistake. The computer screen automatically terminated the exam procedure. The computer did not seek a clarification if the student was sure about ending the test,” the spokesperson added.

The worst nightmares of students came true when their systems did not start, or were slow in processing or simply went blank.

However, students who appeared for the examination on Sunday did not report facing major trouble.

Ankit Harjai, who appeared for CAT here on Sunday, said: “The process was smooth. Only when I tried to log in, the computer screen froze. The problem was fixed in a few minutes. Some others also faced the same problem, but it was soon fixed and everyone got two hours and fifteen minutes from the point they started the test.”

Not all students were lucky. A student, who was slated to give CAT on Sunday at the Asia Pacific Institute of Management, said: “I received a notification on Saturday telling me that I would be informed about a new date within 48 hours.”

“The new date will be non-negotiable. This puts me in a spot because my practical exams in college are slated for next week. I hope the dates do not clash,” the student added.

The seventh semester examination for engineering students and fifth semester examination for BBA and BCA students are also due to occur anytime soon.

According to a statement released by Prometric, 20,000 candidates completed their exams on Saturday while computer viruses at a number of testing centres prevented over 2,000 candidates from taking the exams. Exhaustive plans were developed and put in place well in advance of the start of the testing window but particular viruses and malware that attacked the test delivery system were not detected by the anti-virus software at the testing centres, the release said.

The statement also said that affected candidates had been notified and would be rescheduled within the testing period.

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