Mumbai university to let
colleges conduct 1st and 2nd year exams
TNN | Dec 27, 2018, 03.50
AM IST
MUMBAI: Almost three years after it introduced centralised
examination for first- and second-year undergraduate programmes in city
colleges to bring uniformity into the process, Mumbai University has decided to
revert to its original system.
From the upcoming 2019-20 academic session, colleges will once
again conduct these exams, but in
accordance with fresh university guidelines for the process. The decision is
likely to help the short-staffed university complete assessment of final-year
papers on time and announce results a the earliest.
The resolution was passed at the university's academic council
meeting on Wednesday. While there were opposing views from a few members, a
majority of them voted in favour of decentralizing these exams. Though the
demand was to decentralise first- and second-year exams with immediate effect
and allow colleges to conduct the March-April tests independently, most agreed on
forming regulatory guidelines before entrusting the job to colleges.
Right from preparing the exam schedule to setting questions
papers and assessing answer sheets-colleges will handle it all from next year;
this was the practice before 2016. Currently, only assessment is done at the
college level.
Ever since the centralized policy was introduced in June 2016,
principals, teachers and students have opposed its haphazard implementation.
After Suhas Pednekar took over as vice-chancellor of the university earlier
this year, the proposal to decentralize first- and second-year exams was tabled at the
academic council. Pednekar formed a three-member committee under the
chairmanship of former vice-chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh. After seeking
feedback from a representation of stakeholders, Deshmukh submitted a report to
the university, which was tabled at the meeting on Wednesday.
Though the report did not conclusively state that exams should
be handed back to colleges, it enlisted problems faced by the stakeholders in
not doing so, said a council member. "The report was slightly ambiguous
but it mentioned that giving back firstand second-year exams to colleges will
help complete assessment of final-year exams early," said the member.
Deshmukh had prepared a questionnaire and sought responses from close to 100
principals on the efficiency of the existing system.
In 2016, the then vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh had decided to
bring in a common exam schedule for first and second years. The university also
decided to set the question papers for all six semesters for undergraduate
programmes. "We got to hear that some of the colleges do not complete the entire
syllabus. They skip some of the sections and set question papers based on the
syllabus they have covered in class. These students managed to get good scores
in their first and second years.
When they appeared for the university exam in their final year,
their performance saw a dip. Under the credit-based grading system, students'
final grades were based on the performance of all six semesters. There was no
uniformity," said a principal.
Most principals, though, said the purpose of a uniform exam
across colleges was not served, as the answersheets were assessed at college
level. "Teachers who skipped portions from the syllabus could have still
artificially spiked marks during assessment. There was no system in place to check these irregularities.
After six months, answer sheets could be destroyed too. There was no evidence
to prove that the system was better," said a principal.
On the contrary, a common schedule took a toll on colleges,
teachers and students. First- and second-year exams were extended till April
and May, instead of March. Teachers were busy with supervision for the whole
day in two shifts. Many were not able to give time for online assessment which started
simultaneously in the March 2017 exam. It delayed announcement of 1/3/2019
Mumbai university to let colleges conduct 1st and 2nd year exams final-year
results. Students from rural districts would reach home late in the night and
students from night colleges were forced to give exams during the day.
Madhu Nair, former commerce dean, said this decision will be
welcomed by all stakeholders of the university and was long overdue. "It
will accelerate results declaration and teachers will not be under stress for
evaluation of answer books of all the six semesters together. Semester I to IV exams can be conducted by
colleges without declaring holidays for junior colleges. Degree college
teachers need not supervise during the entire day in two shifts till 6
pm," he said.
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