Mumbai: The University of Mumbai on Sunday conducted the rescheduled PET and LLM entrance exams for students who were affected by technical glitches at the Surekha Infotech centre in Dombivli on November 17th. As many as 1,071 registered students had suffered due to the technical glitches at the Dombivli centres out of them, 824 candidates appeared for the retests, while 247 students were absent for the examination that has been marred by delays and technical glitches.

On November 17, the university had conducted the PhD Entrance Test (PET) and LLM Entrance Exam at 21 different centres. The exams on last Sunday, in which 3,462 students had appeared out of a total of 5,028 registered candidates, were held after the university had delayed the examinations which were originally scheduled for November 10, citing clash with the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) CO/PO exams which were scheduled for November 7 to 14. It is worth noting that this year’s entrance exams to PET and LLM courses were already delayed as MU announced the dates of the entrance exams almost after five months of the academic year start, leaving many candidates in distress.

The rescheduled exams on Sunday were conducted at alternative centres — Father C. Rodrigues Institute of Technology in Vashi and Shah and Anchor Engineering College in Chembur — and the university said it took necessary measures to provide a conducive environment for the students. “To maintain strict supervision and prevent any further disruptions, the university deployed a dedicated team of examiners at both centres,” the University said. 

Dr. Pooja Raundal, Director of the Examination and Evaluation Board, confirmed the smooth conduct of the exams. “I commended the university's efforts in addressing the technical issues and ensuring a fair and efficient exam process for all the students,” she said. 

Some candidates, however, expressed anxiety due to the “delays” in the conduct of the entrance examinations. “The academic session was supposed to commence in November, but due to delays and this technical glitch, now the entrance exams have only finally concluded in November. I don’t know when the results will be declared, there is no clarity on that. Are the sessions for the 2024 batch students going to commence in 2025 now,” asked a candidate. 

As candidates eagerly await for the results of these exams eagerly, they hope for the university to release the official notification regarding the declaration of results in the coming days.