CAT ‘09 : A CATastrophe?
“My eyes were glued to the monitor and my hand clung to the mouse even as I strained the tissues in my nervous system to work towards arriving at a possible solution for the question that glared at me. In this process, I directed every cell in my body to gather that extra iota of energy required to crack the test. And why wouldn’t I? For god’s sake, I was taking the Common Admission Test (commonly known as CAT) conducted by the 7 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission into their coveted post graduate programmes in the field of business administration (MBA). I was on the threshold of realizing dreams nurtured over the years as this day marked the culmination of months of preparation I had endured. Even as I constantly reminded myself not to get overwhelmed by the significance of the occasion and focus on the task at hand, I couldn’t help
but notice a few people around me panicking, i.e. students taking the test at other terminals started raising a hue and cry about something that plagued them. Turning a deaf ear to their cries, I tried to concentrate solely on the question on the monitor. Done! When I geared up to tackle the next hurdle that awaited me, something unnatural happened on the screen. The cursor stopped blinking and the data on the monitor froze before my eyes. I shook the mouse violently praying for the cursor to move but it refused to budge. As suddenly as it occurred, the cold fact dawned upon me. My computer HUNG and worse still, the CLOCK WAS TICKING!” shrieks Santosh Reddy, an aspiring manager (and secondarily, an engineering grad) while recalling his ghastly experience, with anguish deeply rooted in his voice.
Santosh’s tale, in itself, speaks volumes about the plight of thousands of students whose hopes were shattered, thanks to the technical glitches that overshadowed this year’s CAT. The IIMs are renowned the world over, for the path-breaking initiatives they undertake in ensuring that the competitiveness of their highly-esteemed entrance exam `CAT’ doesn’t wither over the years. The modus operandi adopted behind conducting CAT every year, which is revered as the 2nd toughest exam in India (next only to UPSC exams) involves several trial runs, ensuring confidentiality of the question papers (barring the year 2003, when the paper leaked) and thorough scanning of the questions to eliminate even the slightest margin of error.
This year, the IIMs decided to take a step forward and aimed to make history by transforming CAT (which was a paper and pencil test until 2008) into a computer-based test, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first large scale Indian admission test to become computer based. Given the scores of students who take the test very year (about 2.4 lakh candidates registered this year), guaranteeing adequate infrastructural
The unprecedented fiasco surrounding this year's CAT has undermined the confidence of aspirants. Credit: Surreal Gaze
facilities for every candidate was an onerous task. Thus, the IIMs entrusted the responsibility of conducting the tests to Prometric, an American testing firm, at a staggering price of US $40million. Glad to receive an assignment with apparent enormity attached to it, Prometric set about its task of holding the test in 361 temporary testing facilities in 32 cities across the country. CAT-09 was spread over a span of 10 days (Nov. 28 to Dec.7) and the candidates were scheduled to take the test during pre-booked slots.
Apart from the technical glitches, a series of virus attacks at various centers put the candidates’ test in doldrums, thus casting doubts over the credibility of this year’s ‘experiment.’ “Blatantly, Prometric overestimated the efficiency of the local testing labs,” states Prashant Johnathan, a software professional with a leading MNC. “Most of the test centers were computer labs in engineering colleges located on the outskirts of the respective cities. Without conducting adequate dry runs, the test was given a go-ahead in many such centers, thus allowing virus-infested systems to wreak havoc,” he adds.
Though reasons like virus attacks and technical glitches jeopardized the prospects of many a candidate, the presence of untrained personnel and prevailing pandemonium at the test centers played their part in disturbing the candidate mentally. Neeta, a commerce graduate recounts her experience, “The invigilator in my room kept receiving calls continuously on his mobile phone while he tried to save the day for many students. The blare of the ring tone still gives me the chills, reminding me how pathetic my paper was.”
A visibly annoyed Prajwal complains, “It’s extremely unfortunate that in spite of months of relentless preparation, we squandered the test because of the IIMs’ attempt to reach greater heights. I wish we weren’t the rats in this worthless experiment.” Another rumor doing the rounds is that students who took the test after the 3rd day fared relatively better because some of the questions asked in the first 3 days were repeated, giving them an undue advantage. “In a test where half a mark can make or mar ones’ future, there is no hush-hush surrounding the view that coming across familiar questions in the exam is equivalent to striking gold,” opines Aatish, a student.
Course material provided by T.I.M.E- a leading training institute. Credit: Surreal Gaze
With what started as a whisper now turning into an uproar, the government has stepped in to address the grievances of students. The government has asked the IIMs to file a report on this years’ CAT. “The only compensation, in letter and spirit, for the oppressed students is scrapping the computer-based CAT with immediate effect and conducting a retest in paper and pencil format instead,” asserts R.Venkatesh, a faculty with one of the leading coaching institutes.
Even as the decibel levels from all corners of the country threaten to hit a new high, the IIMs have kept mum over their future course of action. Considering the aura that surrounds their very existence, an acceptance that CAT-09 was a debacle would definitely not augur well for institutes of their repertoire. “It looks like the IIMs are playing a wait-and-see game,” declares Sudhakar Mantena, an educationalist.
At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that the IIMs have decided to test unexplored waters by making CAT-09 online. The consequence of a hasty move of this magnitude shall be interesting to watch, as the drama still unfolds, at the time of this article being published.
