Many students from the district readying to take the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate programmes in Central universities across the country have been given exam centres in other States, even when showing their optional city in their admit cards.
A large number of students from the district are upset over denial of test centre in the city of their choice. The CUET is taking place on Tuesday.
Many students and parents were aghast as they got their admit cards on Saturday night. “I really doubt if I can attend the test. I have been given the centre at Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, under the city code Malappuram and the State Kerala, though the pin code has been given that of Coimbatore. I don’t know how this happened,” said Minha Umay.
Ms. Umay has got admission at Farook College, Feroke, one of the leading colleges in Malabar. “If I go to Tamil Nadu to take the entrance exam on Tuesday, I will have to forsake the admission I got at Farook College. It is strange that under Malappuram city code, the centre given is in Coimbatore,” she said.
Several of her friends too shared this worry. For one girl, who sought not to disclose her name, the centre given under the city code of Kozhikode is Nehru Institute of Engineering and Technology at Coimbatore. “I’m not going all the way to take the test by skipping an assured seat that I got in a college here,” said the girl from Kozhikode district.
Some parents here also raised concern about their children being given centres in Tamil Nadu under the city code of their choice. “I don’t think Kerala does not have enough institutions to serve as exam centres for students from the State. I suspect that it is done deliberately to discourage students from Malappuram,” said Lukmanul Hakeem, parent of a student from Manjeri.
“The denial of exam centre in own State is a major cause of worry for Kerala students. When the students who have got admissions in colleges in Kerala refuse to attend the CUET because of a remote exam centre, it will be a loss for other students from Kerala,” said V.P. Abdul Azeez, a teacher from Puthur Pallikkal.
