“I missed two exams — one was an elective, but the second was a core paper,” said a first-year student at Delhi University's St. Stephen’s College, pleading anonymity. Several students at the college like her have missed at least two semester examinations this week after being barred over attendance shortfall — a decision that was later partly reversed on Thursday under growing pressure from students and parents. Following days of protests and appeals, the college on Thursday issued a notice providing one-time permission for such students to take their exams on June 13, provided they submit an affidavit to not seek any attendance-related concession in the future. “On the representation made by the Junior Member on the Grievance Redressal Committee and the advice of the members of the Grievance Redressal Committee, the Principal grants a one-time permission for Junior Members who have fallen short of the required 66.67%… to take their exam on 13th June 2025,” the notice, signed by Principal John Varghese stated. Yet, students said the process had already exacted a toll. In a statement, concerned students of the college had earlier said: “Students were not even granted a moment to explain their poor attendance to the Principal….". As per the statement, the absence of the Principal during this critical period and the college administration’s refusal to entertain appeals had left many students in distress. Principal Varghese did not respond to calls or messages from The Indian Express on the matter. The Indian Express spoke to multiple students who said that they were denied access to at least two examinations after the college released a list of 54 students on June 4 who had failed to meet the required 66.67% cumulative attendance threshold. The first-year student said she was back home in Jammu and Kashmir when the Pahalgam incident occurred on April 22. She ended up missing nearly a month of classes. “Many students like me had genuine reasons, but were not allowed to explain ourselves. I fell short by just 3% of attendance,” she claimed. The students have also raised concerns about inconsistent attendance policies and the lack of a Vice Principal to handle such issues in the Principal’s absence. In a statement earlier, the students had warned of “irreparable damage” to academic careers. “Due to credit-linked progression, detained students may be forced to repeat an entire year,” it had noted.
