“It could be a repeat of last year when students who wanted to pursue higher studies could not do so because their results were delayed,” said a student.
In the midst of the summer semester examinations that started earlier this month, the University of Mumbai is yet again at the centre of chaos over delayed results. Students of several streams alleged that the varsity was yet to declare the winter semester results that had been held between November 2017 and January 2018.
According to students, while the results of previous semesters are yet to be declared, the university had already planned to conduct re-examination for students who have failed and the final exam for the next semester, which have now been postponed. The fifth semester exam of BCom (Accounting and Finance) or BAF students started on November 10, 2017 and the results are still pending. So, the university has now postponed the re-examination and sixth semester exam, which was scheduled from April to May, leaving students enraged.
“It has been five months since our exams were held and the university hasn’t been able to declare the results. We are concerned that if the exams are postponed, then the results will also be postponed and affect our career,” said Aditya Jha, a final-year BAF student from Nirmala Memorial Foundation College of Commerce and Science in Kandivali.
“It could be a repeat of last year when students who wanted to pursue higher studies could not do so because their results were delayed,” said Jha.
Law students also had a similar complaint. Over 23,000 answer sheets of law students from the winter semester are yet to be assessed. On Wednesday, the Students’ Law Council, a students’ body, met acting Vice Chancellor Devanand Shinde to discuss these issues.
Sachin Pawar, member of the council, said, “We have demanded that examinations for the current semester be held only after the results of previous semester are declared, so that students are clear about whether they have to take the re-examination.”
The university has, however, maintained that sufficient measures have been put in place for declaring results for summer semester exams on time. Vinod Malale, an official spokesperson of the Board of Examinations and Evaluation, said, “We have taken measures and plugged all gaps, so that the results of the summer semester exams are on time. Students need not panic.” Malale did not comment on why the results of BAF students were delayed, but said that results will be out soon.
Students are planning a protest on the university’s Kalina campus if their results are not declared soon.
Last year, the university decided to switch to onscreen mode of assessment of answer sheets, a decision that was hastily taken and put the future of around 4.2 lakh students in jeopardy. While usually results are expected in mid-June, in 2017 the results of at least 250-odd courses were delayed by around four months.
The issue gained political traction in the monsoon session of the legislative Assembly and led to the ouster of then Vice Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh, who had taken the decision to switch to onscreen assessment. Thereafter, however, the university decided to go ahead with the onscreen assessment mode in the subsequent semesters.