With Just 24 Exam Centres In Country, Many Are Bound To Miss DU Entrance Exam

New Delhi: Delhi University’s (DU) entrance exams for admission into undergraduate and postgraduate courses begin on Sunday. However, with the shortage of exam centres across the country, many applicants are sure to miss the test.

This year, only 24 cities have exam centres. Around 2.2 lakh candidates are set to appear in the entrance exams for nine UG, all PG, M.Phil and Ph.D courses. The exams will be held between September 6 and 11.

Some students fear challenges in reaching the exam centre and not being able to write the exam at all.

According to an Indian Express report, the parent of an M.Sc Chemistry aspirant from Kozhikode said the long travel distance to the centre, combined with the risk of missing out on other entrance exams, will not be worth it. “In all of Kerala, the only examination centre is in Thiruvananthapuram, around 400 kilometres away. Perhaps another centre in north or central Kerala would have made it more feasible. The journey will be difficult, and if anyone at the centre turns out to be COVID positive, she will have to go into quarantine and miss the entrance exams to other universities including the University of Hyderabad. She feels that it is not worth it, and will most probably not be writing the exam,” said her father.

Similarly, Varanasi is the only exam centre in Uttar Pradesh. Some aspirants from Aligarh will have to reach Delhi to appear for the exam. While a majority of Delhi UG students who have applied for post-graduation courses and Delhi as the exam centre, are stuck in their home towns and cannot make it on time.

Sreejith, who has his MA Political Science entrance exam on September 6, boarded a train from Kerala to Delhi to be able to write his exam. “We had selected our exam centres at the time of registration and we had thought we would be back in Delhi at the time of the exam. Since we were not given the choice of changing our exam centre when the date of the exam was selected, I have no choice but to travel to Delhi. I’ll stay with some friends but my parents are not happy about it. I have many friends who are not able to travel,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

With the pandemic and travel restriction in place in addition to the fear of catching coronavirus infection, many hopes are hanging in between wondering what to do, save their future or life.