Outgoing students of M’lore University want special exam to clear backlogs

Mangaluru: Pointing to the backlogs they had accrued in the aftermath of the outbreak of Covid-19, undergraduate students of Mangalore University in the sixth or the final semester want the varsity administration to schedule a special examination so they can clear their pending papers. Mangalore University students TOI spoke to pointed out that the pandemic had impacted their academic preparations, given the delay that it effected.
Existing rules stipulate that students with backlogs from a previous semester will have to wait till the next batch gets ready for the same examination – in effect, this entails a wait for an entire year. “Our seniors were afforded the chance to clear their pending papers in a special examination that the varsity held. Our case must also be considered, given the similarity in our circumstances. Else, we will lose an entire year, waiting to appear for the exams with our juniors,” said some of the students.
But for the hiatus that the pandemic forced, the students would have received their degree certificates in June. However, they now have to wait till September to appear for the examinations they are yet to clear, and another two months before the results are announced.
A commerce student who has an arrear from the fifth semester sought to remind the varsity administration that the outgoing batch of undergraduate students had attended offline classes only for two semesters. “Our courses commenced in June 2019, and although we had on-campus classes for the entirety of the first semester, outbreak of Covid-19 towards the end of the second semester meant that we had to be content with online classes or a hybrid model all the way till the sixth semester,” the student said.
Principal of a Mangalore University affiliate college said that a delegation of students had called on the varsity officials, to press their case. “We asked the students to write to the vice-chancellor and registrar (evaluation) to consider scheduling a special examination, given the circumstances,” said the principal.
Echoing the principal’s views, a college lecturer said that students, the education of whom was affected by the pandemic, ought to be given a fair chance to complete their respective programmes.
‘Varsity yet to take a decision’
Many students of the outgoing batch have requested us to hold a special examination to enable them to clear their arrears. The varsity is yet to decide on holding an examination so students can clear backlogs they may have accrued in the fifth semester at the earliest. Special examination to help students clear arrears they have carried from the earlier semesters will be held only after we take a close look at the number of those who have failed the subjects.
- PS Yadapadithaya | Vice-Chancellor, Mangalore University