Half of ST candidates did not appear for CUET; What could be the reason?

The data, released soon after the results were announced on Saturday, showed that 74.41% of the total registered students appeared for the exam, up from 65% percent last year. But students from the ST category registered only 50.5% attendance.

“While we have yet to determine the exact cause, the desire to enrol at a local university could be one of the possible reasons for not attempting CUET-UG after registering for it. Since this is only the second year since the introduction of CUET-UG, it is too early to conclude,” Mamidala told HT.

To be sure, the corresponding category-wise data for last year was not released by UGC.

Mamidala also said that for students among the Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and General category, the attendance percentage — at 76.45%, 76.29% and 75.63%, respectively — was higher than the overall figures.

“An increase of this magnitude indicates that students consider CUET-UG an important admission test,” Mamidala said.

As far as gender-wise breakup is concerned, 73.83% of female candidates appeared for the test while 74.91% of male candidates took it, the data showed.

Another UGC member, who requested anonymity, said that the digital divide could have played a role in the low attendance among underprivileged sections. “This was an apprehension that we had initially. From my understanding of the communities, we can say that it is because of the lack of access to technology, or the digital divide as we call it,” the member said.

The official added, “Another possible reason is the lack of understanding and communication regarding the entire process, particularly among first-generation learners. We must think about removing these obstacles. We have this data now, which is a step in the right direction.”

Also read: With CUET results out, DU to begin UG admission process from July 17

Teacher and student unions raised questions over the low attendance among students from these categories. Aishe Ghosh, president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), tweeted, “According to the data shared by the Chairperson UGC itself shows the number of students absent from ST is almost 50 percent and that of SC/OBC is almost 25-30 percent. Poses big question of how inclusive CUET is, as a model and why such high rates of absentees?”

The computer-based test took place in nine phases between May 21 and July 5. Last year, the exam was marred by several technical glitches. Prior to the test this year, officials said that there they were working to fix the glitches. They added that students would be informed about their centres well in advance and that there would be extra computers at each testing centre.