By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 12: The state government has asked the Director General of National Testing Agency (NTA) to defer the CUET (UG) 2025 examination for Meghalaya until additional centres are verified and made ready for allocation.
A letter in this regard was sent to the NTA Director General by Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma on Monday.
Sangma told reporters this will help accommodate all candidates from Meghalaya within the state, thereby avoiding the challenges associated with long-distance travel.
Lamenting that the NTA did not inform the state government about the CUET centres on time, he said the government has identified over 200 additional computer nodes to support the smooth conduct of the CUET (UG) 2025 examination within Meghalaya.
The list of these proposed venues has already been shared with Tata Consultancy Services, the agency responsible for vetting such centres.
Stating that an inspection of these centres will be conducted on Tuesday, Sangma said in such a situation, the colleges in the state should affiliate themselves with the Captain Williamson Sangma State University.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had on Sunday asked Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan to direct the NTA to review and reallocate CUET (UG) 2025 centres for Meghalaya candidates within the state.
The issue concerns the inadequate availability of examination centres within Meghalaya, with many students being allotted centres in distant locations such as Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Kolkata. This has placed an undue burden on many, especially those coming from humble backgrounds who are now compelled to bear significant travel and accommodation costs, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Monday met Rakkam Sangma to resolve issues pertaining to the CUET centres in the state.
VPP’s youth and women wings lamented that many students appearing for CUET were allotted centres in different states despite choosing Meghalaya as their preferred centre. The secretary of VPP’s youth wing Nathaniel Mawrie said the party has urged the education minister to apprise the NTA to set up more CUET centres in Meghalaya to cater to the students of the state. The Garo Hills Deficit School Teachers and Employees Association (GHDSTEA) requested Education Secretary, Swapnil Tembe, to develop a better model for CUET aspirants from the region, citing high costs incurred on travel and accommodation to appear the exam in centres in Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
Its president, James D Shira criticised the bizarre scheduling of exams, stating that it was financially, mentally, and physically discriminatory for students from Garo Hills.
“The NTA’s bizarre scheduling of exams, with one paper taken on a certain date and the next two taking place 2-3 days after, make it difficult for students to appear the exam. The association hopes that necessary steps will be taken to set up CUET centres in Garo Hills to prevent future constraints for the benefit of students,” he added.