CUET UG: Students Dissatisfied with Answer Key and Costly Challenge Fee, UGC Chairman Promises Resolution
CUET UG 2023 - PC : MRP Graphics
CUET UG: A section of aspirants and teachers have claimed that several answers in the provisional answer key for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG), released by the National Testing Agency (NTA), were incorrect. They also criticised the agency for charging Rs. 200 per question for students who wanted to challenge the key.


Students Dissatisfied with Answer Key and Costly Question Fee

In response to these allegations, University Grants Commission Chairman Jagadesh Kumar stated on Saturday that the NTA has acknowledged receiving feedback about certain incorrect answers, which could be attributed to typographical errors. He further mentioned that aspirants can email the NTA directly to provide valid feedback without having to pay the fees, and if the feedback is deemed valid, it will be considered.

Chairman Kumar assured that the NTA would release another provisional answer key within two days.

On June 29, the NTA published the provisional answer key for CUET (UG) 2023. Candidates had until 11:30 pm on July 1 to raise objections and were required to pay Rs 200 per question for each challenge they filed. However, some students and teachers argued that charging the fee was unfair. They insisted that a revised answer key be issued before objections were invited, citing inaccuracies in even basic questions.

Aspirant Umang Sharma expressed concerns about the fee, stating, "In one of the papers, I found seven answers incorrect. Now, if I want to challenge them, I would need Rs 1,400. I don't have this much money."
Many individuals also criticised the complexity of the objection filing process. Satyapriya Pandey, whose daughter appeared for CUET (UG), claimed that 40 questions were inaccurately answered in the Hindi test, expressing frustration with the confusing challenge procedure.

Ashish Singh highlighted that in the General Test Paper (Shift 3) conducted on May 30, 10 answers in the answer key were incorrect. He gave an example of a question about the full form of CNG, where the answer provided was different from "Compressed Natural Gas." He suggested that an updated answer key be released.

Amit Kumar took to Twitter to express his frustration, stating, "I have 5-6 questions correct in my test, but it is showing wrong according to the provisional answer key (it is about only one subject), and the cost for challenging 1 question is 200. What a good way of robbing students."

Samrendra Kumar, a DU assistant professor, pointed out mistakes in the answer key, such as the incorrect answer for the founder of the Indian National Army and the incorrect headquarters of the European Union. He criticised the fact that students have to pay to challenge the wrong answers.

UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar denied the allegation that students were being unfairly charged, stating that the money collected is used to pay an honorarium to experts who examine the key responses. He clarified that the NTA operates on a no-profit, no-loss basis.

Samrendra Kumar questioned why students should bear the cost of the NTA's mistakes and suggested that the NTA correct all the answers before releasing the answer key for challenges.

The CUET-UG is the second-largest entrance exam in the country in terms of the number of applicants. In its first edition, 12.5 lakh students registered for the exam, with 9.9 lakh submitting their applications.