This was not the first time such controversy over entrance tests had occurred in the department. In 2020, it was delayed after the question paper apparently leaked.
TFM Report
The entrance test to the Manipuri Department of Manipur University was canceled on Sunday as the department was unable to hand over question papers, even as the students waited for more than one and half hours inside the examination hall.
The entrance examination to the first semester of MA in Manipuri was scheduled to be held from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. At around 2:15 pm, the OMR sheets were distributed to the students present inside the examination halls.
As the question paper was not made available to the students till 3:20 pm, Naorem Tanoranjan, one of the students, tried to walk out of the examination hall after handing in his OMR sheet. But the invigilator and teachers of the department tried to persuade him not to leave the hall.
After Tanoranjan finally left the examination hall, other students followed suit. The guardians who had come with their wards also left the varsity in anguish. Ultimately, the entrance test was cancelled.
According to the head of the Manipuri Department, professor Toijam Tampha, the unfortunate incident occurred due to technical issues while printing the question papers. As a tradition, the questions for entrance tests are set in the morning of the examination and it was to be printed before the commencement of the test on the same day.
Around 700 students were eligible for the test, in Meetei Mayek script and Bengali script. As the process of printing the question papers started, the printing machine apparently broke down, according to professor Tampha.
After another printing machine was brought, there was a power outage.”We had managed a generator to resume the printing process but it was getting late,” she said and added that the department was determined to conduct the test on Sunday.
Speaking to media persons after coming out of the examination hall, Tanoranjan pointed out that this was not the first time such controversy over entrance tests had occurred in the department. In 2020, it was delayed after the question paper apparently leaked and a new questions were set.
Tanoranjan maintained that it was unbecoming of a central university to be unable to tackle such technical issues in time.
He also urged the concerned authorities of the university and student bodies to look into the matter, so that such incidents do not occur in the future and make the central varsity a prestigious one. Meanwhile, the entrance test has been rescheduled for October 27, at 12:30 pm.