Mumbai University may be staring at result delay
again, say students and teachers
With
no clarity on assessment and too many exams being held together, varsity might
see a repeat of last year
Written by Priyanka Sahoo | Mumbai | Published: April 19,
2018 4:05:42 am
The university of Mumbai that is currently conducting the summer semester
examinations may be heading for uncertainty over delayed results yet again.
(File)
THE
UNIVERSITY of Mumbai that is currently conducting the summer semester
examinations may be heading for uncertainty over delayed results yet again,
said teachers and students of the institution. The exams started on April 3
along with tests held at college levels. As the third year BCom examinations
ended on Wednesday, teachers complained that there was no clarity on
assessment.
“This
year, too, assessment will affect the academic calendar because there is
complete mismanagement on the part of the university,” said Mohammed Tahir, a
professor from Akbar Peerbhoy College of Commerce and Economics on Grant Road.
Tahir, who is also a senate member of the university, said: “Since all exams
are being held together, there will be chaos. Principals would insist on teachers
finishing assessments of first year and second year papers before assessing
final year papers, as new students have to be inducted. The assessment of final
year papers will take a backseat. The university should have planned better.”
A
commerce faculty member said: “So far, assessment has not started and we
haven’t been given a schedule for it yet. There is confusion over when we are
expected to be available for assessment, a situation similar to last year.”
Last year, the university switched from manual assessment to an onscreen
assessment process in a hurry. Marred by technical glitches, the switch led to
an unprecedented delay in publishing results of lakhs of final year students.
Even as the results were declared around three months after the scheduled date,
several students found errors in the results.
This
year, university administrators had claimed that the assessment process had
been streamlined, teachers, however, rued that not much has changed. “When we
assessed answersheets manually, the process would begin within three to five
days of the first paper. It has now been a fortnight since the first exam was
held and the university is still scanning answersheets,” said a teacher. Fear
of a repeat of last year is growing as some winter semester results were
delayed by (around) five months (While exams were held between November and
December, some results were declared as late as last week).
The
delay in publishing results of exams held as part of the winter semester has
led to postponement of some exams in the summer semester. The university has
already postponed the final year law exams and first and second year commerce
exams would be over only by the first week of May. Students are worried that
with results of the winter semester exams being delayed, despite claims of
streamlining the process, there is a chance of delay this time as well.
“It
has been five months since our exams were held and the university released our
results last week. Now, our re-examination and final semester examinations have
been pushed back, putting students at a risk. We are concerned that if the
exams are postponed, the results would be delayed and will affect our careers,
like it did last year,” said Aditya Jha, a final year BAF student from Nirmala
Memorial Foundation College of Commerce and Science in Kandivali.
A
teacher said holding the college exams and final exams simultaneously has led
to an avalanche-like situation. Between April and May, the university will
conduct over 465 exams for final year students across all streams — Humanities,
Commerce, Science and Technology and other interdisciplinary courses.
Simultaneously, 64 exams would be held for all other students in the college
levels.
“Earlier,
colleges could hold their own exams for first and second year students. But
since last year, the university has decided to hold common exams for all
students. Now that the university has taken on more than it can handle,
teachers and students will suffer,” said the law faculty member. In the Law and
Commerce faculty, shortage of assessors is likely to slow down the evaluation
process further, as the varsity brings in working professionals — lawyers and
chartered accountants — for evaluation.
Teachers
who The Indian Express reached out to said they were juggling between setting
question papers and invigilating at exam centres. Once the assessment starts,
they will have to report for correction and moderation duty as well. “With the
exams continuing till May, teachers will have to rush through evaluation before
the admission season starts by the end of May. Which means, the teachers will
slog and also have to give up their vacations,” said an Arts faculty members.
Over
three lakh students are expected to take their exams this year. While Arjun
Ghatule, the director, Board of Examination and Assessment, was unavailable for
comment, board spokesperson Vinod Malale said the situation was under control.
He, however, said the data on the number of answersheets scanned so far was
unavailable.
“We
are currently scanning answersheets and being very cautious in doing so. Before
scanning, the answersheets are checked for discrepancies to avoid problems that
we faced last year. Assessments should start on time,” said Malale. So far,
1.83 lakh answersheets have come in of which 5,021 have been assessed, said
Malale. “We have already sent messages to teachers about the assessment
schedule and official letters were issued on Wednesday,” he said.
Source:
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/mumbai-university-may-be-staring-at-result-delay-again-say-students-and-teachers-5143167/
