Students taking CAT re-tests wont have unfair advantage
After technical glitches marred the first edition of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 preventing many students from taking the test, students are naturally feeling apprehensive as the dates of re-tests near. CAT 2009 was conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Prometric, a testing company, but a series of technical snags have forced them to conduct re-tests for several of the students. Soumitra Roy, managing director, Prometric, India, spoke to DNA and assured that all checks are being done to prevent a repeat of the glitch-ridden online fiasco of the first phase.
How many candidates will take the CAT on January 30 and 31?
We do not have the final figures yet but the number of centres and candidates will soon be figured out. We don’ think that the 
number of candidates who will take the re-test on either of the days will be anywhere near the number of candidates who took the tests each day in the first phase, which was approximately about 20,000 candidates a day. We will be able to accommodate all the candidates appearing for a re-test.
What method is being followed to identify candidates with genuine grievances?
We worked with the IIMs to establish objective criteria for determining which candidates will be invited to reschedule or retake their test. This criteria was released on January 1 (www.catiim.in).
What measures are being taken to ensure there’s no problem?
During the final five days of the CAT 2009, Prometric and NIIT maintained a very high standard, and the tests went off very well. We are trying to ensure that the same happens when the re-tests are taking place. In those five days, we had, for instance, dispatched senior technicians to centres experiencing virus problems at the earliest. The senior staffers at each centre were able to troubleshoot issues in real time. As a result of these and other steps, we were also able to contact and reschedule exams for more than 17,000 affected candidates during the original test period.
Some candidates have raised the issue of fairness and objectivity. How does Prometric plan to ensure these?
The advantage of computer-based testing system is that it enables us to construct new test papers from a huge bank in no time. In this case, the item bank has more than 1000 questions. Also there is a lot of variety in the question bank and having seen one question paper will in no way make taking re-tests easier. Even researches like one on memory and emotion by Reisberg & Hertel in 2004 in New York show that the memory of information presented in a stressful environment (such as a high-stakes testing situation) is not likely to be accurate and therefore any advantage experienced would be negligible. Thus, those candidates whose tests have been rescheduled will not have an unfair advantage.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/
Date: 15th Jan., 2010
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