NEW DELHI: The notification pertaining to the answer key of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate aspirants, which was released by National Testing Agency (NTA), states that students are required to pay a non-refundable amount of Rs 200 per question if they wish to challenge the answer key. This has raised several eyebrows with both teachers and aspirants stating that those from marginalised sections will be pushed out of the system as they might not be able to pay the same even if they are dissatisfied with the answer key. In the notification issued, NTA said, “The candidates who are not satisfied with the answer key may challenge the same by paying a fee of Rs 200 per question challenged, as a non-refundable processing fee. No challenge will be entertained without the receipt of the processing fee. Challenges made by the candidates will be verified by the panel of subject experts. If the challenge of any candidate is found correct, the answer key will be revised and applied in the response of all the candidates accordingly. Based on the revised final answer key, the result will be prepared and declared.” Several from the academic community said that repeated payments to be made towards the undergraduate admission process was proving to be a burden on many. Apart from paying while registering for the CUET, aspirants will now also have to pay separate registration fees to respective universities where they wish to seek admission. Shreya Tiwari, an undergraduate aspirant, said, “I have noticed several wrong answers in my English paper and now, I am not sure if my parents will allow me to spend extra money to challenge the answer key. We are also required to pay registration fees for the various universities separately. This entire process has become very taxing for us.” Stating that “education should not be a business, especially for the government,” Rajesh Jha, former executive council member of Delhi University, said, “Earlier, an aspirant could pay only Rs 100 and register for Delhi University and all its colleges. Now, for the CUET itself, they have had to pay close to Rs 1,000. If students have already paid during registration, why should they pay again just to point out discrepancies? There are some who wish to challenge over 10 questions, which means they would have to pay Rs 2,000. Many are finding it difficult.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-fee-to-challenge-cuet-answer-key-irks-many/articleshow/94124088.cms
