CBSE in dilemma over rescheduled AIEEE

New Delhi: After the All India Engineering Entrance Test paper leak
fiasco on Sunday, the Central Board of Secondary Education is now
facing a new dilemma.

The Board had issued a notification on Tuesday regarding the
rescheduled examination to be held on May 11. However, it is still
having trouble deciding which students should be allowed to appear for
the examination.

The rescheduled test on May 11 had been organized by the CBSE for
students who had been unable to appear for the test on Sunday when it
had been delayed by around 3 hours.

However, parents of several students have petitioned to the Board to
conduct a fresh AIEEE altogether and allow all 12 lakh candidates that
had appeared for the test this year to give the rescheduled exam
again.

On May 1, when the test had been delayed due to the paper leak, around
32,000 students had been unable to give the test as the timings of the
delayed exam had clashed with other entrance tests such as that of the
Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC).

The Board is concerned that if all 12 lakh students are allowed to
reappear for the examination again, it might result in more hassles
and is planning to restrict the rescheduled test to only those who had
been unable to give the test on May 1.

According to a CBSE official, the Board is caught in a situation where
it is hard to satisfy the demands of everyone and will be facing flak
for whatever decision it takes.

The AIEEE on May 1 had been delayed by around three hours after the
Uttar Pradesh police had discovered that the test had been leaked.
32,000 students had been unable to give the test that had been
delayed.

It is being argued by parents of several candidates who had appeared
for the test on May 1 that the performance of their children could not
be compared with students who would be appearing for the test on May
11. This is because students who would appear for the test 10 days
later to the actual AIEEE would already be aware about the question
paper standards and what to expect in it.

Parents have suggested that the CBSE should make it optional for all
candidates to reappear for the test and then consider the best score
out of the two examinations. They have argued that this measure alone
would be fair for all students.

On the contrary, the CBSE is concerned that allowing all candidates to
appear for the rescheduled examination will create a scenario in which
one set of students will be getting two chances at the paper, which
would be unfair for candidates who got only one chance.