Engg students in quandary over circular

Moreover, the circular, which defies logic, is silent on whether students who avail of the term grant will be allowed into the sixth and eighth semesters respectively, leaving them stuck between semesters for the time being. Also, with the sixth and eighth semesters having commenced a month ago, attendance problems could be the next hurdle if indeed they are given the green signal in the first place.

The circular states that students who have been `inappropriately’ admitted tothe fifth and seventh semesters do not have to repeat the semesters, provided they have attended lectures and practicals, and worked on their projects to the satisfaction of principals and teachers. Such students will be permitted to take the examinations of the respective semesters only after they clear their backlog in the earlier semesters.

The term `inappropriate’ refers to colleges who bent the rules and admitted them into the fifth and seventh semesters without completing their second and third semester examinations respectively. This violates the university’s rules, which state that students cannot be allowed to keep terms for more than two consecutive semesters. However, the students were admitted into these semesters as examination results were inordinately delayed.

Now, with the term grant being left to the vagaries of individual colleges, teachers say the confusion is only compounded. For one, students have to pay fees for two semesters at a time, which means that those who are allowed the termgrant this time are automatically eligible for admission into the sixth and eighth semesters. But the ambiguous circular fails to clarify this.

“Our principal says we won’t be allowed into the sixth semester as it is not mentioned in the circular,” says a student. Confused college authorities now plan to approach the university for clarifications.The two main reasons for the students’ predicament are delayed results and sudden changes in the rules that allow students to keep terms. With most examiners not submitting answer-papers on time, results of various semesters were delayed, as is invariably the case. Worse still, the university issued two confusing ordinances regarding the number of ATKTs a student is allowed, most of them on the eve of the examinations last year.

Students have held a series of morchas since September last year to draw attention to their plight. Many even approached the Bombay High Court, which pronounced judgements in favour of some while dismissing other petitions. Confusedand disoriented, they approached students’ wings of various political organisations. Succumbing to pressure from students’ unions, the university met principals of engineering colleges this year and finally decided to issue the infamous circular on January 25.

The university’s Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Naresh Chandra prefers to be laconic rather than lucid. Saying the circular is “very clear”, he adds: “Principals and teachers should be satisfied with the students’ work, then only can they (students) avail of the term grant.” And, will they be allowed into the next semester, Dr Chandra, mirroring the clarity of the circular, says, “The circular says everything.”