Mumbai University: MCQ pattern helps improve pass rate, 97.5% clear TYBCom

MUMBAI: The Mumbai University released the results of Bcom (banking and insurance) semester VI. Like the other commerce results, this one too recorded 97.5%. Out of a total of 5,739 candidates who took the exam, which was modelled on choice-based credit system, 4,897 cleared it. In fact, results of 10 other exams were also declared.
“The MCQ format of exams has resulted in almost all students clearing the exam,” said a former dean. “The exam really does not translate into anything much as these marks are inflated.” Earlier, out of 67,974 students, 94.5% students (49,796 students) cleared the BCom examination.
Close to 18,000 students have cleared their papers in the final semester but many are yet to clear their Allowed to Keep Term (ATKT) subjects from first and second years, so their final result is withheld, said an officer from the university’s examination department. This is the second consecutive year that nearly 95% of the TYBCom batch cleared the exam. Before the pandemic, this percentage stood at 70%-74% every year.
The success rate, which used to hover around 70%, has jumped higher, partly also because students are taking the exams from home and most colleges have not invested in proctoring software, said a faculty. “While it may be wrong to state that students would have indulged in cheating, it is the format of this exam that allows students to score full marks,” said a faculty member.
Regular exams have a mix of descriptive and short answer questions, but this year, MU asked colleges to continue exams online in the MCQ format. An online test of 50 marks was given for undergraduate degree and post-graduate examinations of traditional streams (Arts, Commerce and Science) which was entirely MCQ based. Students were given an hour for the examination. The MU also released the results of five engineering streams, as also those of some masters programme.