NAGPUR: After a delay of nearly eight months, Nagpur University has finally started conducting examinations of over 5,000 external students.
The papers were delayed despite repeated requests from the aggrieved students to NU administration led by vice-chancellor Subhash Chaudhari citing the pandemic.
TOI on September 15 had reported about the demand from students who apprehended losing an academic year. About 3,500 such students are enrolled in BA courses, some 700-800 in MA courses, and very few in LLM courses.
“NU has made special arrangements at some specified colleges where these students can appear for their papers. The colleges include Annasaheb Gundwar, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Dayanand Arya Kanya Vidyalaya, and Vasantrao Naik Government Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (erstwhile Morris College) among others,” pro-vice-chancellor Sanjay Dudhe told TOI.
He defended the decision to entrust colleges with the task of conducting the papers and stated that otherwise, it would have two months for the university to schedule the exams as per the convenience of students. “The colleges had successfully held papers of final year failure students at their level. For the same reason, we have asked them to conduct exams even for non-final year failure students,” he said.
After NU declared the timetable for final year examinations, the external students requested for conducting their papers simultaneously. When NU officials refused their appeal, they shot off a letter to state higher and technical education minister Uday Samant alleging injustice being meted out to them. The NU deliberately delayed the exams leading to the loss of entire academic year, they said.
Endorsing the pro-VC, Board of Examinations and Evaluation (BOEE) director Prafulla Sable told TOI that NU had started exams for external students from December 28. “We have kept papers of those who filled up exam forms from NU departments at our Buddhist Studies centre. Even in other districts, we have identified colleges like JM Patel College in Gondia and Yashwant College in Wardha for conducting the exam,” he said.
NU Exam Section officials defended the decision of not conducting exams of external students in October stating that their papers lacked practical components. The final year exams were held as per the 50:50 formula in which practical components were mandatory for clearing the subjects as per the directives issued by NU’s Task Committee for exams. “Hence, external students couldn’t be accommodated in the exam scheme for final year students,” they said.
Courtesy: TOI