CAT aspirants endure testing time

New Delhi : The hugely competitive common admission test (CAT) for admission into business schools went online for the first time yesterday, but several students had a harrowing time as computers crashed in 11 centres across the country.

The unexpected fault occurred soon after the CAT examination began in 32 cities, but organisers said it affected only a small number of the 12,000-odd aspirants who appeared on the first day of the staggered exam.

The organisers termed the failure as "teething problems" since the test switched over this year to a computer-based system from the earlier optical reader marking paper-based tests.

Software incompatibility

Satish Deodhar, convenor of the CAT committee of the IIMs, said the main reason for the problem was "incompatibility of some softwares at centres with servers".

"This is the first time the CAT is being held online. Despite our efforts to keep a demo online, the students clicked wrong buttons which in turn led to the students facing problems. These are just teething problems. We will ensure that the students are accommodated in the slots that will be held over the next ten days.

"If such a thing is not possible, then one day would be added to accommodate all the students who faced a problem. Hopefully, this problem will not be repeated again," Deodhar said.

Candidates offered slot

Ulhas Vairagkar, director of TIME Institute, a preparatory school for IIM aspirants, said: "We got calls from students in six cities saying they were not able to give the test because the computer system crashed. The [affected] students have been told they can take another time slot."

In Mumbai, some candidates complained of a lack of communication from the authorities.

"When I started my tutorial the screen went blank. We were not allowed to do anything after that. We were not allowed to move out, We were not allowed to leave. We were asked to sit there quietly. After two hours, the authorities came and told us that our exam had been rescheduled," said one student in Mumbai.

Linked venues: 105 centres, one server

The Common Admission Test (CAT) determines admissions into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other B-schools.

Around 240,000 students registered for the CAT this year, with the assessment tests scheduled at 105 centres in 32 cities, all linked to a main server.

The CAT exam assesses quantitative, logical, verbal and data interpretation ability of management aspirants.