 "Madras HC issues notices to IIMs, Prometric, HRD ministry")
The Common Admission Test (CAT), it seems, is rife with controversy. If CAT 2012 faced allegations that scorecards were tampered with, CAT 2013 has already seen three court cases.
The latest is a petition filed in the Madras High Court by eight petitioners, alleging discrepancies in CAT 2013. Following this, the court sent notices to all the 13 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), asking them to reserve seats for the eight petitioners.
Reportedly, the petition said CAT 2013 used a method of equating, scaling and normalising scores that was erroneous, leading to irregularities.
Though the petitioners also sought the admission process be stalled till the matter was resolved, the court declined this.
Several attempts to contact Rohit Kapoor, convenor for CAT 2013, failed.
Prafulla Agnihotri, director of IIM Trichy, told Business Standard, “Many a times, we get students who file such petitions after CAT. But so far, the court has not stalled the admission process.”
The petitioners have created a website (www.catdiscrepancy.net), urging everyone to visit it and donate for their cause. The website stated the petitioners’ legal aid expenses was about Rs 2.5 lakh, adding one per cent of this had been received as donations.
On his Facebook page, Abhishek Leel, one of the petitioners, said, “We are fighting for transparency in the Common Admission Test conducted by IIMs. There is some financial crunch, as fighting the case with senior counsel requires a hell lot of money.”
Earlier, too, some candidates who took CAT 2013, expressed dissatisfaction over their percentile scores on social media and other platforms. A few students met CAT convenors to convey their concerns. Subsequently, the convenors forwarded letters in this regard to Prometric. However, Prometric said the system was accurate and reliable. “Prometric’s number one priority for delivering the CAT is to provide accurate scores for candidates to differentiate themselves and earn placements in distinguished B-school programmes. For CAT 2013, we have conducted additional quality-control to verify 100 per cent of our reporting is accurate and our methodology is fair, reliable and determines the right scores according to candidate performance,” Soumitra Roy, general manager, Prometric India had said.
Early this month, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had issued notices to 13 IIMs, asking them to explain the normalisation and the scaling processes of CAT 2013 scores. A case in this regard was also filed in the Delhi High Court. Since the results of CAT 2013 were announced on January 14, many students have been demanding revaluation.
CAT scores are used to admit students to IIMs and about 150 other business schools.
The latest is a petition filed in the Madras High Court by eight petitioners, alleging discrepancies in CAT 2013. Following this, the court sent notices to all the 13 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), asking them to reserve seats for the eight petitioners.
Reportedly, the petition said CAT 2013 used a method of equating, scaling and normalising scores that was erroneous, leading to irregularities.
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The court has also asked the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Prometric, the US-based agency that conducted the examination, to respond to the questions filed by the petitioners.
Though the petitioners also sought the admission process be stalled till the matter was resolved, the court declined this.
Several attempts to contact Rohit Kapoor, convenor for CAT 2013, failed.
Prafulla Agnihotri, director of IIM Trichy, told Business Standard, “Many a times, we get students who file such petitions after CAT. But so far, the court has not stalled the admission process.”
The petitioners have created a website (www.catdiscrepancy.net), urging everyone to visit it and donate for their cause. The website stated the petitioners’ legal aid expenses was about Rs 2.5 lakh, adding one per cent of this had been received as donations.
On his Facebook page, Abhishek Leel, one of the petitioners, said, “We are fighting for transparency in the Common Admission Test conducted by IIMs. There is some financial crunch, as fighting the case with senior counsel requires a hell lot of money.”
Earlier, too, some candidates who took CAT 2013, expressed dissatisfaction over their percentile scores on social media and other platforms. A few students met CAT convenors to convey their concerns. Subsequently, the convenors forwarded letters in this regard to Prometric. However, Prometric said the system was accurate and reliable. “Prometric’s number one priority for delivering the CAT is to provide accurate scores for candidates to differentiate themselves and earn placements in distinguished B-school programmes. For CAT 2013, we have conducted additional quality-control to verify 100 per cent of our reporting is accurate and our methodology is fair, reliable and determines the right scores according to candidate performance,” Soumitra Roy, general manager, Prometric India had said.
Early this month, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had issued notices to 13 IIMs, asking them to explain the normalisation and the scaling processes of CAT 2013 scores. A case in this regard was also filed in the Delhi High Court. Since the results of CAT 2013 were announced on January 14, many students have been demanding revaluation.
CAT scores are used to admit students to IIMs and about 150 other business schools.