Nagpur: Four years ago, the Board of Studies of the Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University had taken a significant decision to change the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) annual exams pattern to the semester system to be in consonance with the world wide pattern. To tide over the change, students who had not cleared annual exams and were planning to sit for supplementary or the next annual exams were to be given three chances to clear the backlog after which they would be admitted to the next semester. (In the semester pattern, there is no scope for supplementary exams which the University typically held in October).
There are some students who could not clear the backlog even after exhausting the three chances. Such students were told that to be absorbed in the semester pattern they would now have to take admission in the first semester of the Science discipline. This led to unrest among the students who would have to spend again for admission fees and thus would ‘waste money along with time lost’. The situation took a somewhat dramatic turn when some student leaders owing political affiliations ‘ghearoed’ the VC and other University officials asking for relief for affected students and a quick decision in their favour.
They were told that such decisions could not be taken unilaterally and Board of Studies of Science along with Vice Chancellor Dr. Vinayak Deshapande, Pro V.C. Mr. Murlidhar Chandekar and Dy Registrar Academics Mr. Puran Meshram would hold a meeting on 27th and discuss the issue threadbare. Dean of Science K.C. Deshmukh also attended the meeting along with other members as per the statutory requirement.
Accordingly at the meeting held yesterday at the University Campus it was decided that as a sympathetic consideration towards the students who had not managed to clear failed subjects in three attempts too would be given two more chances to do so. Till these two additional chances were not exhausted they would not be forced to take admission to first semester.
The Board of studies has also worked out a novel ‘absorption’ scheme whereby students of the annual pattern would be absorbed in the semester pattern with studies not being duplicated.
Student representatives who met with the VC later to know the outcome of the meeting seemed satisfied with the University stance.