Technical glitches mar AIEEE test

Updated on: Monday, May 14, 2012

The online AIEEE test that determines entry to the prestigious NITs, held here on Saturday, was marred with technical glitches for many students. The exam was held in five private engineering colleges and on the TCS company premises in Ambattur.

While the students who took the test at the TCS Centre said they did not face any problem, those who attempted the exam in the engineering colleges had a different story to tell. "The computer kept hanging for most of us and we were asked to change our machines, almost three to four times," said a student who took the test at S.K.R Engineering College on Poonamallee High Road.

“Since the whole process was automatic, there was no need of asking for extra time. The timer stops when you are logged out and starts again when you log in. But shifting from one lab to another broke the continuity of the test,” he added.

R. Krishna Dev, a parent, said that with the centres located in the outskirts, all of them had had a tough time travelling, especially because they were instructed to reach there by 8. 30 a.m. “They should have tested the hardware before the test,” he said.

Similar problems were also faced by some students in S.R.R. Engineering college. According to Dharini, a student, “The computer kept logging me out every now and then. I think there was a problem with the server.” The students had been instructed not to use the keyboard while the test was on to prevent glitches. “But many, out of practice, kept using the arrow keys. They should have just kept the keyboards aside before the test,” said Bharath, another student. The systems did not have partitions, which was also a little distracting, he added.

But the questions were not very different from what they had practised for, said most students. “They had just changed the numbers and the sequence from what had appeared in the offline test on April 29. Chemistry was relatively a little difficult today," said a student who took the exam at TCS. The bio-metric registration process followed for the online testing process, where the student had to submit his left thumb print, to be compared to the one given earlier was followed too. “It was a good experience even though it took a lot of time. They gave me as many rough sheets I wanted,” said a student. As many as 2,545 students from the city attempted the online test on Saturday. The test will also be held on May 17 and May 26.

Technical glitches mar AIEEE test

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