Mumbai: Colleges in the city remain weary of conducting end-semester examinations right after the annual Diwali breaks.
The exam timetable remains unclear as colleges count back days from November 22 to ensure that they have conducted the 90 days of formal lectures before the semester examination takes place, as per the norm in the Maharashtra Universities Act.
“Though the exams were scheduled towards the end of November, colleges do have the autonomy of shifting dates to finish the syllabus,” said an official from Mumbai University.
All FY and SY examinations have been moved into the jurisdiction of colleges whereas all Third Year exams are still to be conducted by the University, as per the order released in 1991.
Owing to the pandemic, Mumbai colleges began their classes late for this year's students.
“The first-year students started college on August 10, which is two months of delay, and it won’t be fair for the students to face exams before they even get accustomed to offline learning,” said Dr. Minu Madlani, principal of Hinduja College.
“The stress would snowball as self-financing courses have their internal exams too. Principals from Mumbai colleges are trying to speak with the University to ensure that the dates are pushed back enough to complete the syllabus,” she added.
The autonomous colleges of Mumbai have slated their end-sems only after December. “We need to ensure that we have completed imparting 90 days of proper education to our students,” said Wilson Rao, the exam controller of Jai Hind College. Mithibai College plans to conduct its exams in the last month of the year too.
The problem intensifies for CBSE and ISC students who came in a month after colleges began for the rest.
“Some of the CBSE students joined even a month after college began, but the teachers only covered a small portion of the syllabus during that time. I still believe that we are comfortable with appearing for our exams in November,” said Karen Aguiar, a first-year student from St Xavier’s College, who will start exams early on November 14.
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