Students will suffer due to the whims of the exam branch of Assam Univ, ACTA in anguish
বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় পরীক্ষা বিভাগের খামখেয়ালিতে ভুগবে ছাত্ররা, উদ্বেগে এসিটিএ

June 12: Decisions taken by the Examination Branch of Assam University without taking into consideration the ground reality amidst the ongoing pandemic will jeopardise the career of the students. Moreover, the numerous contradictory and halfhearted notifications issued by the Controller of Examinations have landed the students and their guardians in severe anguish. This was expressed by the office bearers of Cachar and Karimganj- Hailakandi Zones of Assam College Teachers’ Association (ACTA) during a press meet convened by them at G.C. College, Silchar on Friday. They said, We are extremely distressed at the fact that students will suffer due to the whims of the exam branch of Assam University.

Speaking during the press briefing, Sudarshan Gupta former President of ACTA Cachar Zone and the member to the Academic Council of Assam University stated that a new academic calendar for Under Graduate (UG) (CBCS & Non-CBCS in Affiliated Colleges) issued by the Controller of Examination (COE) of Assam University on 12 May, 2020 led to a situation of panic amongst the students. The notification issued by the COE specified that TDC Non-CBCS examination will commence from 7 July & continue till 25 July, 2020. In this connection, it was also stated that students should submit their forms for examination within 30 May, 2020. Mr. Gupta regarded it as highly objectionable as because Lockdown 4.0 continued for the full month of May, 2020. He said, “When the MHA Guidelines strictly stated that all educational institutions should remain closed, how can a responsible officer like that of a Controller of Examination (COE) issue such an order to submit their forms by the students coming to the college during the lockdown.”

Saying so, Sudarshan Gupta also highlighted that, “It was stated that the circular was issued on the basis of the recommendation of a committee constituted by the university authority for this purpose and also on the basis of the recommendation of the Principals of affiliated colleges under Assam University. A committee formed by the university to decide on the exam related affairs of TDC without any representation from the colleges is indeed a strange matter. Naturally, the decisions arrived at by that committee were superficial and not based on ground realities. Further, the Principals of the affiliated colleges too during a video conference with the Vice Chancellor on 9 May, 2020 agreed to the proposal of the committee formed the university which were not in conformity with government guidelines and were of course anti-student in nature.”

When Assam University issued this notification on 12 May, some of the colleges were already requisitioned by the respective district administration as quarantine centres. Citing this, Gupta said that the COE of the University issued another notification on 22 May, 2020 wherein it was stated that as some colleges were requisitioned as quarantine centres, so Assam University will launch online form examination form submission in order to facilitate students to submit exam forms without visiting their respective colleges. He said, “It was a halfhearted attempt as the students could only submit their forms online, but they were asked to physically visit their respective colleges for depositing exam fees. Now, if the colleges can collect the fees from each & every student, then they can also submit their forms in the college office.” He also said that though the last date of form submission was extended from 30 May to 8 June. Today, it is 12 of June, but till now, the online portal for form submission has not become functional.

Another important issue brought to light by ACTA was that again, on 3 June, 2020, Controller of Examinations of the university came up with another notification, wherein it was mentioned that the established concept of “Answer any 5 questions, selecting one from each unit” will be done away with. In its place, the question paper will contain the instruction, “Answer any 5 questions out of 10.” It was further stated that “Questions will however be set unit wise.” This is another misnomer. When the colleges has failed to cover 1 or 2 or maximum of 3 units out of 5, then it would be impossible for the students to answer any 5 from a set of 10 questions Unit wise. Those papers, for which classes were held for 1 or 2 units, the students will be able to answer 2 or 4 questions and never 5. This unscientific step would therefore ruin the career and future prospect of the students.

As normal classes could hardly be done for a month before the lockdown, so the lion’s share of the syllabus of all subjects remained incomplete. Though many college teachers tried to impart lessons online, but that too was not comprehensive as many of the students due to various reasons could not be incorporated in to the WhatsApp groups or Zoom sessions. Hardly 50 percent of the students could be reached through the online mode in one form or the other. Now, when moderation of question papers of all subjects were over, based on the entire syllabus, it would be suicidal to conduct the examination on the basis of the entire syllabus.

Interestingly, Sudarshan Gupta pointed out that ACTA Central Committee sent a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor of Assam University on 25 May, 2020 stated that  “Any decision regarding the examination process with specific time frames would be unrealistic and impracticable.” It was also mentioned that, “If examination has to be conducted in the regular mode, there has to be atleast three weeks of actual classroom activities. Otherwise, students will not be in a position to appear in the examinations.” Similar views were also expressed in another follow-up memorandum sent to the Vice Chancellor by ACTA Cachar & Karimganj- Hailakandi Zone. They also quoted the latest UGC circular wherein it was stated that for students of CBCS 2nd & 4th semester, “Keeping in mind ‘social distancing’, safety and health of the students, grading of the students could be composite of 50% marks on the basis of the pattern of internal evaluation adopted by the universities and the remaining 50% marks can be awarded on the basis of performance in previous semester only (if available).”

Mr. Gupta lamented the attitude of the Exam branch in surpassing UGC advisories and conducting exam for even the 2nd and 4th semester students.

He also highlighted the fact the university should waive off or drastically reduce the exam fees of the students as and when they would conduct the exam. He said, “When State Education Minister, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma could waive off admission fees of students from HS to PG, why could Assam University not waive or atleast reduce the exam fees this semester.” Mr. Gupta also said even the college Principals can easily waive off the centre fees. “Many parents are finding it difficult to manage two square meals a day in the backdrop of 2 months long lockdown. We the teacher members of ACTA are ready to give invigilation duty without any remuneration. But why is the exam branch of the varsity and college Principals not thinking on that lines,? asked Mr. Gupta.

ACTA during the press briefing raised serious issues regarding the functioning of the exam branch of Assam University and wished that good sense would prevail and they would refrain from taking whimsical decisions. Present during the press briefing were Chandan Paul Choudhury, Central Executive Member of ACTA Cachar Zone, Sanjay Seal, Secretary of ACTA Karimganj-Hailakandi zone, Dr. Santanu Das, Secretary of ACTA Cachar Zone and Dr. Apratim Nag, Member of Academic Sub-Committee of ACTA Central Committee.