No exam, yet Bangalore City University asks students to pay fee

BENGALURU: Students of Bangalore City University (BCU) are irked as the university has demanded examination fees even though semester exams are cancelled. They demanded that the order be withdrawn immediately. They said the university cancelled the second and fourth semester degree exams and the second semester exams for postgraduate students, as per the guidelines of the UGC and state government.

The university has cancelled second and fourth semester exams for undergraduate students and is basing the marks on internal evaluation and previous semester’s examination. However, only the pending examinations of semester 1,3, and 5 are being held from August 10 and will conclude by August 31.

“We have been asked to pay fees for the second semester examination but the schedule hasn’t been announced yet,” said a first year BSc student. “A student in my class who could barely attend online classes, has been asked to pay fees for the second semester too and write the first semester examination that started on Tuesday. Asking for fees in such a short notice is unfair,” the student said. 

Most of the students at BCU are children of mercenary workers, said Kalyan, the District Secretary of All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) on Wednesday. As for the post graduate students, second semester students will be graded based on internal assessment. Others will have their examinations in the month of August. “The examination fees are sought for the various steps that are involved in assessment,” said a university official, adding that evaluation is just three to four responsibilities in this chain of 30 steps, the official added. Last year, the government is said to have provided a 50 per cent concession in examination fees. However this year, universities are still awaiting a concession, as per a source.