Nagpur: The Nagpur University’s statutory members and academics in general have slammed the decision to hand over the postgraduate winter-2020 examinations to the colleges. The theory papers of PG third and fifth semesters of regular and ex-students are scheduled from March 25 to April 10.
According to them, it would ensure that a majority of examinees clear the papers with flying colours. It would replicate summer-2020 exams, where maximum number of backlog students, who were consistently failing since last seven to eight years, cleared the papers, as they were conducted by the colleges.
NU Board of Examination and Evaluation (BOEE) director Prafulla Sable defended the decision saying that they would be conducting online papers of nearly two and half lakh undergraduate students, which would be a big task. “In summer-2020, there were 72,000 final year examinees, while first and second year students were promoted. This time, we would be conducting exams of all three years,” he told TOI.
Senior academician Baban Taywade, who’s also a college owner, said it would be difficult for their staff to conduct papers of such a large number of students, particularly in view of ongoing lockdown. “Right from paper setting to holding them, to evaluation, everything is to be done by our teachers. It’s difficult to conduct exams in view of restrictions of working with just 10 staffers.”
Questioning NU’s decision, Senate member Manmohan Bajpyee said it would once again compromise with the quality and standard of education. “When the pandemic was at peak, it was okay to entrust responsibility on colleges. But after considering the consequences, NU should avoid handing them the exams work. It seems, NU is shrugging off its primary responsibility,” he said.
MC meet to today to finalise exam agency
Nagpur University (NU) has convened an emergent Management Council (MC) meeting on Friday to decide on the agency for conducting online exams. TOI on Wednesday reported how NU had failed to appoint agency even as papers were just 10 days away. Pro-VC Sanjay Dudhe refused to comment stating that the agency would be finalized during the meeting.
Bajpayee, who had raised a query in this regard during recent Senate meeting, predicted that NU would most likely hand over the contract to Promarc Software that was blacklisted by Amravati University last year for a series of technical blunders. “Even as the exams are just a week away, NU is yet to finalise the tender. If the contract is awarded to any other agency, it would take a long time to get accustomed to NU’s system and get data of students. So, NU would have no choice but to rope in the same firm, despite a series of goof ups in summer 2020 exams,” he told TOI.