The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is an exam that law
aspirants eagerly await and dread in equal measure every year. On the one hand
this exam is their gateway into the prestigious National Law Universities
(NLUs) and is hence top priority for students and parents; on the other,
though, enough questions have been raised in the past about whether the NLUs
are capable of conducting the CLAT in a
smooth, error-free and glitch-free manner that
keeps students and parents at ease.
Reacting to these very concerns, a consortium of National Law
Universities headed by Prof Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor of
NALSAR, Hyderabad, decided (not too long ago) to roll back the CLAT to the
offline mode from 2019. According to a press release issued by
NALSAR, it was resolved that the feasibility of online test will be considered
in the future (based on number of candidates and participating
colleges) and also that a permanent CLAT website be created.
The Reactions:
In the last month or so since this announcement, there have been
diverse reactions from students, parents and mentors. Many simply point to the
past that up until 2015, when CLAT went online, there were very few glitches
and even fewer complaints. With the test now going offline, the dependence on
computer labs, power and other such factors will reduce, thus allowing for
fewer glitches.
Detractors however state that this is a regressive step since
technology is clearly the future. They argue that the NLUs must focus their
energies on solving the various issues and ensuring smooth conduct of the
online exam. They point at the resolution by the consortium of NLUs for a CLAT
Secretariat to function throughout the year from its permanent office
in Bangalore as a step in this direction. Through better planning, operational
rigour and clear demarcation of responsibilities, the online exam can
definitely be smoothly conducted.
Online vs Offline modes:
PARAMETER
|
ONLINE MODE
|
OFFLINE MODE
|
1) Browsing And Reading Speed
|
DIFFICULT– Only one question is displayed on the
screen. Even with the provision to see entire question paper, it is very
difficult to browse quickly on a computer screen. Also, reading long passages
is tiresome due to the need to continuously scroll.
|
EASY
& CONVENIENT– In the pen-and-paper mode it is very convenient to glance at
multiple questions at the same time and also move across pages. Also, not
needing to scroll is a big relief as it making reading long passages a simple
task.
|
2) Note-Making / Highlighting (in RCs, Legal Reasoning and
Logical Reasoning sets)
|
DIFFICULT– It
is very difficult to underline/highlight, scribble or take notes when the
given data or question is on the screen.
|
EASY
& CONVENIENT– It is extremely easy to underline/highlight, scribble or
take notes against given information in the question.
|
3) Management Of Time And Attempts
|
EASY
& CONVENIENT– The presence of an online timer makes it very easy to
monitor time. Further, the online mode allows easy access to information such
as the number of questions attempted, attempted questions, questions marked
for later etc.
|
MODERATELY
HARD– While a watch/clock can be used, it is impossible to keep
checking time regularly. There is no way to keep track of the number of
questions attempted; while page navigation is easier, locating specific
questions will need unique marking by the student beforehand.
|
4) Rough Work And Calculations
|
MODERATE–
Rough sheets are provided, so for Quant and Logic questions the online mode
is quite similar to offline mode. Also, an on-screen calculator makes
calculations easy – however it can be a little cumbersome and time consuming.
|
EASY
& CONVENIENT– There is no substitute for rough work in the question paper
itself (right next to the data!). Also there really is no need for a
calculator in the CLAT – the Quant section will have hardly 3-4 such
questions.
|
5) Marking Responses And Changing Them
|
EASY
& CONVENIENT– An online exam is pretty standard and convenient in terms of
marking and editing responses – a simple mouse-click is all it takes in
either case.
|
HARD–
OMR-bubbling is time consuming and students need to do it carefully so that
the response is considered. Also since the shading is done by pen, one cannot
change a response.
|
6) Test Environment
|
MODERATE–
Conventional wisdom suggests that an online exam conducted in an
air-conditioned lab should provide a good and quiet test environment.
However, students have complained in the past about poor quality of labs,
computers and ACs/power back-up.
|
VERY
CHALLENGING– Usually offline exams are conducted in school classrooms
that don’t have ACs. Inconvenient benches, ambient sounds from surrounding
areas (repair/construction and traffic) and the scorching summer heat make an
online exam quite a formidable challenge.
|
7) Cheating And Vigilance Issues
|
LESS
LIKELY– An online exam is fully standardised in terms of start and
finish times; it also allows for different ordering of questions and
minimizes chances of cheating.
|
MORE
LIKELY– Start and end times in an offline exam are dependent on the
invigilator and hence prone to errors. Past instances of center-rigging &
paper leaks suggest that such issues are more likely.
|
8) Evaluation And Result
|
QUICK
AND CONVENIENT– An online exam makes evaluation of even lakhs of candidate
responses extremely simple and hence results can be announced quite early.
|
TEDIOUS
& TIME-CONSUMING– Even with OMR-readers, the process of
checking responses in an offline exam is difficult. This makes it more prone
to errors and time-consuming too.
|
As the above table shows, both online and offline modes have
positive and negative aspects. It is very difficult to say which is better even
from past experience; most commentators are currently siding with the offline
mode purely because of the large number of glitches and errors in the recent
past; they however fail to adequately account for the larger issues that still
plague an offline exam.
A better perspective can be gained by looking at the Common
Admission Test (CAT), an exam that manages admission into the IIMs and the best
management schools across the country. With almost 2 lakh aspirants annually,
CAT went online in the year 2009 and initially faced many of the same glitches
and problems as those faced by the CLAT. However, these incidental issues have
been handled and now the exam is smoothly conducted each year. Maybe the CLAT
Secretariat can take a leaf out of this book and find ways to make the CLAT
online and yet free of issues and technical glitches.
Implications for a student:
Is something drastic needed to prepare for the offline mode?
Should students be sad or worried now that the exam is offline? For serious
students, will the last few months of hard work and toil all come to
naught?
These are clearly some questions that are plaguing both students
and parents alike.
However, there is no need to panic or feel disheartened - the
answer to all the above questions is a clear and resounding NO. The
fact that CLAT has gone offline has almost no bearing on an aspirant’s
preparation and hard-work. Not convinced? Read on.
There are three important steps/phases when preparing for any
competitive aptitude exam. Let us consider the impact of change in the test
mode on each of these:
1. CONCEPT
BUILDING
The first step of preparation is to consider the syllabus and
past exams to clearly identify the topics and chapters covered (in all the
subjects/sections). It is important to work hard on building a working
understanding of these concepts (i.e. knowing the basic concepts and learning
the various approaches to apply these concepts) in order to improve one’s
accuracy.
While the exam mode has changed, CLAT has not announced a change
in syllabus. So if you are a student who has been preparing for the CLAT in the
past year or so, your efforts will not go to waste!
2. PRACTICE
A critical step in preparation is to practice a large variety of
questions. Having learnt the basic concepts, one needs to learn how to apply
them in a large variety of questions. Thus, practicing questions by topics,
chapters and subjects is quite critical in not only improving one’s accuracy
but also in developing speed.
Now, all the practice that one has already done (whether online
or offline) will still be useful as the syllabus stands unchanged. In fact, the
online mode allows for a better analysis of topic/sectional performance, is
better at identifying strengths and weaknesses and makes bookmarking questions
much easier.
3. MOCK
TESTING
When preparing for legal
aptitude for Clat entrance
exam, it is extremely important to attempt past papers as well as a sufficient
number of mock tests. This is critical in order to plan exam strategy and
tactics (such as deciding the order of sections, time-allocation,
time-management, topic/section specific reminders etc.). Taking mocks doesn’t
just help in fine-tuning strategy – it also builds exam temperament and helps
the candidate react to diverse exam situations (different difficulty levels of
various sections, length of the exam, surprise element etc.)
What this means is that even if you have already taken plenty of
online mock tests, they will still be useful in developing your exam strategy
and building your exam temperament. All you need to do is take sufficient
offline mocks to acclimatise yourself to the new exam mode and its innate
nuances.
Final Verdict
CLAT going offline is not that big a deal; and even if it is,
there is not much you can do to change that. However, there is plenty of time
to take offline Clat mock tests and get used to this mode. In fact serious
aspirants would be advised to continue to take practice tests and Clat
online mock test : at this stage it is more important to
diagnose your performance and identify areas of improvement - and online exams
will do a much better job of it than offline exams. In the last month or so,
take plenty of paper-based mocks as the final fillip to your preparation.
Wish you all the very best for your CLAT!
