The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 received bad press last year due to numerous glitches which inconvenienced thousands of students. This year, Himanshu Rai, faculty, IIM Lucknow, in his first interview after taking over as the CAT convener for 2010, tells Chitra Unnithan how he plans to enhance the quality of the premier management test. Edited excerpts:
Satish Deodhar said he had sleepless nights during CAT 2009...
At the cost of his health, he ensured a glitch-free Phase-2 of CAT 2009 and I am reaping the benefits of his hard work, and the suggestions he made thereof. Therefore, I do not have any apprehensions of losing my sleep. I am sure I will get a good night’s sleep and read and hear good things about CAT 2010 every morning through the media.
Do you expect the number of CAT registrations to go up this year?
Yes. I expect the number of CAT registrations to go up. Last year, given the economic recession, some potential candidates may have thought of holding on to their jobs instead of going for higher studies. Also, the fact that the CBT was happening for the first time, some may have preferred to wait and watch. This year I expect all such people to be a part of the exam.
What should candidates expect this year from CAT?
Just what they expect every year. A quality test that will challenge their abilities across quantitative, verbal and data interpretation facets. Besides, they can expect a better testing experience and a great future.
How do you plan to ensure a glitch-free CAT 2010?
Let me say one thing upfront here. There were no mismanagement issues in CAT 2009. There were technical snags and since most of them were unforeseen, it took the organisers some time before they could react to it. The credibility of CAT has been build over several decades and it is the ceaseless work put in by the people at all the Indian Institutes of Managements that has propelled it to be the toughest exam in the world and the most influential in India. We need to appreciate the fact that CAT-2009 represented the largest format change in testing history (not just in India, but in the world), both in scope and scale. While, the inconvenience caused to the candidates cannot be denied or even undermined, one must look at it from our perspective. While we deserve the brickbats for what went wrong, we also deserve words of encouragement for achieving what we did in the testing history. We have learnt that things can go wrong even if we don’t make any mistakes! This year, therefore, we intend leaving nothing to chance or words given by others, do due diligence checks, make the changes that I mentioned above, and I am certain these will ensure a glitch-free CAT 2010.
Please list some tangible steps...
We intend to bring significant improvements to all facets of CAT 2010; be it the registration process, the sale of vouchers, the website and the test conditions. Some of the specific changes that have already been put into place include an increased testing window (from 10 days to 20 days), a smoother registration process, and candidate helplines not only working for longer hours, but also better prepared to answer queries based on our experience last year. Our actions are guided by three mantras: thorough site readiness ensuring good testing experience, improved service to candidates, and overall enhancement of quality in all our processes.
Last year, a few business schools chose to give weightage to their internal exams over CAT 2009...
I am not aware of any such steps taken by any business school last year and I am certain that the image of CAT remains what it has always been. The business schools across the world in general, and India in particular, know what it takes to conduct quality tests and manage unprecedented changes in the format. They appreciate what we did and what we went through. If anything, I have new business schools (over and above those who have utilised CAT scores in the past) who have shown interest in using our scores this year.
