Students are advised to take offline test
With the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) 2012 ringing in major technological changes, Nagpur has been designated as an online-only exam centre. However, many coaching institutes in the city are advising students to stick to the old pen and paper format instead.
Some centres feel the online test system will take a few more years to 'settle down' while others feel the online exam dates are not suitable. The nearest centre from Nagpur for an offline exam is Amravati.
In 2011, the CBSE, which conducts the exam, had made online tests an option but only a minuscule percentage of students across the country opted for it. In Nagpur, there were no takers for the online exam hence the AIEEE decision to go fully online is being viewed with skepticism.
Sarang Upganlawar, director of a coaching centre in Nagpur, said, "We have advised all of our students to choose the offline mode this year. We all know what happened with the CAT online exam and that continues to play on everybody's minds. I am sure in a couple of years the AIEEE online exam will run smoothly, but as of now it needs to settle down."
Director of another well known institute Nisha Kothari believes the online exam dates are clashing with other competitive exams, hence it is better not to opt for it. "Lot of my students give the entrance exam for BITS Pilani and they have only online version. These exam dates are clashing with AIEEE online, and I do not want my students to take too much pressure doing that. Also, the IIT-JEE results would have been declared before the AIEEE online test, and I see no point in exerting too much pressure and giving another exam after that," said Kothari.
Despite concerns over the technical glitches there are some students who have decided to appear for the online version.
Abhishek Bansal, director of a coaching institute, said, "At least 30% of my students have decided to appear for the online exam. I have left the decision entirely to my students and will not interfere. Personally, I am not comfortable with the online mode but at the same time if AIEEE has decided to implement it then they certainly must have taken a lot of things into consideration."
The AIEEE offline version will be conducted on April 29, 2012, while the online version will be conducted daily from May 7 to 26.
Courtesy: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
