Though this post comes late but the severity of the discussion cannot be undermined. Indeed, CAT 2009- the admission test to the prestigious IIMs- has been a disaster. And no amount of argument will change the fact. Prometric, the organization, which had been given the contract for conducting the first ever computerized CAT, for a whopping $40 million sum, had failed miserably, though not quite understandably, to deliver their promise.
Right from day one of the CAT, news channels had quite a blast covering the server failure at so many centers across India. Students whose exams had got cancelled due to so-called “technical” glitches called foul and had a lot to say about the negligence in conducting CAT and the ignorance of the proctors about their own systems. Indeed, yes, the proctors had no idea whatsoever about how the systems work. And they were there to invigilate the examination! Phew…! Most interestingly, there was no official word from either the IIMs or the Prometric-wallahs. Guess they were themselves in a daze about what went wrong. Nevertheless, it was the just the first day and some problems were excepted. But no, the same “server-problem” again cropped on the second and the third day. Good heavens, what complacency! Were the Prometric guys supposed to work throughout the night and fix the problem on the first day itself? The answer is no, they were not, as it sadly turned out to be.
Some days later, the “server problem” was not the actual reason anymore. Word had it that the server was virus infected and that the anti-virus was unable to detect and clean it. Given the magnitude and importance attached with the CAT exam, this excuse seems nothing but lame. The rest of the days of the CAT went more or less smoothly. But this was not the end of all. Supposedly, the questions on subsequent days were getting allegedly repeated. This enraged the coaching institutes, in particular, and demands for a re-test in the conventional format had cropped up. The IIM directors didn’t take any decision at that moment and deferred it to after the CAT.
Now, some days before the IIM directors had met for a decision but there could have been none. Can this go anymore haywire? The fairness of the test could not be decided as some IIMs wanted the test to be done away with as such while others wanted a conventional re-test. Finally, they have come to a decision that the students who could not appear for the test will be tested in January.
But, this still a lot of questions unanswered. What about the questions getting repeated? What about the waste of time of so many people? And when you are conducting a test again in January, it means that some students are getting a month more for their preparation. Is this not unfair? Why was a mock CAT not conducted before the actual one to dispel of any glitches that could have appeared? The answer is, sadly, whatever be done, CAT 2009 was unfair and was not the CAT exam after all. And people used to say, “Mirror, mirror which is the fairest of all?” Mirror: “The CAT exam!”
But no more.
