Unaware of checking system, PMET candidates lose marks

Tuesday, 05/06/2012

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120605/punjab.htm#1

Around 679 Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) candidates who did not attempt the questions they were not sure of are now sulking. Reason: For every un-attempted question, they lost one mark each. On the other hand, there was no negative marking for wrong answers.

In the PMET-2012, conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), there were 200 objective-type questions. Out of four answers, the students were required to darken the oval in front of the correct answer. But in case a candidate did not want to attempt a question, he/she was required to darken the fifth oval which meant that this question was not attempted. However, if all ovals were left blank, it was subjected to negative marking.

This fifth oval was introduced for security reasons. If a candidate did not darken any of the ovals, there was a scope of cheating as the correct oval could be darkened at a later stage, said Sat Pal, deputy registrar of the university.

"We had broadly mentioned this provision in the application form and prospectus and asked the candidates not to leave any question unattended. We had also made it clear that there would be no negative marking for a wrong answer, but the candidate would lose one mark each for an un-attempted question," said Sat Pal.

"We did not want to leave any scope for cheating. So this new provision was introduced," said Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor. The students are required to read the instructions carefully before entering the examination hall, he said.

Due to this new provision, many high-ranking students also lost marks for not attempting the questions. Manmeet Kaur (rank 53), Amrit Jot Kaur (rank 74), Shashank Gaurav Pandey (rank 144), Karamjeet Kaur Dhaliwal (rank 181) are among the 18 students in the first 500 candidates who lost marks. Between the ranks 500 and 1,000, 31 students lost marks for not attempting all questions while there were 44 such students between 1,000 and 1,500 rank positions.

Caught unawares
There were 200 objective-type questions. Out of four answers, the students were required to darken the oval in front of the correct answer

If a candidate did not want to attempt a question, he/she was required to darken the fifth oval meant for questions not attempted. However, if all ovals were left blank, it was subjected to negative marking

This fifth oval was introduced for security reasons since there was a scope of cheating as the correct oval could be darkened at a later stage

Due to this new provision, many high-ranking students also lost marks for not attempting the questions. There are 18 students in the first 500 candidates who lost marks