Hyderabad: Technical glitches have marred the first ECET entrance exam conducted by JNTU-Hyderabad in online mode on Saturday. Over 25,000 students had registered for the exam, which was scheduled from 2pm to 5pm.
However, due to technical glitches, the exam began late in several centres and continued till 9pm at night. The exam was held in 81 centres at Karimangar, Khammam, Warangal and Hyderabad. Of them, 65 centres were located in Hyderabad alone.
ECET is held for polytechnic diploma holders and for B.Sc. (Mathematics) degree holders for lateral entry into B.E./ B.Tech./ B. Pharm courses. Qualified students will get direct admission into the second year of BE/ B.Tech/ B.Pharm courses.
Students who appeared for the exam were in for a rude shock as computers failed to display questions for hours. In some centres, though the questions were displayed, the answers attempted by students were not registered. This led to heated arguments between students and examination staff in centres.
The JNTU rushed the technical experts to set things right. It took hours due to which the exam in some centres started after 5pm. Many students were forced to take the exam even after 9pm. Students and parents demanded cancellation of the exam and fresh exams.
However, JNTU-Hyderabad officials said they will take a decision on retest after obtaining reports from all the centres. The TS Council of Higher Education will hold a meeting with JNTU-H officials on Sunday and take a decision over whether to conduct retest or not.
