Mumbai: Students at Wilson College debarred from exams

The Wilson College in Mumbai. File pic

The 75 per cent attendance rule in college is haunting students once again. Failing to fulfil minimum attendance requirements, a total of 20 second-year BSc IT students from Wilson College have been debarred from their written and practical exams. The students have said they not only face a drop year but also the daunting task of restarting their course from the first year as the new courses will be aligned with NEP.

The attendance rules of Wilson College mandate: "The attendance for lectures will be recorded course-wise. The college expects 100 per cent attendance at all lectures and practicals as per the chosen course. As there are legitimate reasons why 100 per cent attendance is not possible, a minimum of 75 per cent attendance per course is made mandatory. A student with less than 75 per cent attendance in a course (including tutorials) will not be allowed to appear for the End Semester Exam (ESE) in that course."

Students are now criticising the college administration for barring them from exams due to low attendance without prior warnings. They plan to file a complaint with the chief minister's office, alleging that the college failed to provide them with the monthly list of defaulters as they did in the past.

One student said, "Maintaining 75 per cent attendance is mandatory according to the rules. In our first year, this rule was strictly enforced, and we regularly received defaulters' lists via email, serving as warnings. However, this year, we didn't receive any warnings. Without prior notice, the head of the department informed me the day before the exam that I failed to meet the minimum attendance requirement, barring me from appearing for the exam."

Another student said, "We were informed on March 16 that we are being debarred from the exam due to slow attendance. Failing to meet the attendance requirement in more than two subjects could lead to not only a drop year but also restarting the course from the first year. Despite our pleas, the college administration seems unwilling to assist us in this matter."

The group of students has approached advocate Dhananjay Junnarkar, Spokesperson of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress. Junnarkar said, "The college needs to take student-centric decisions. While I understand that these students failed to fulfil the mandatory minimum attendance requirement, not letting them appear for the exam and wasting their crucial academic year is a draconian way of punishing students, and also inhuman.

When I spoke to the principal myself, I found him to be rude and unwilling to discuss the matter. This shows how he must be talking to the students. The students have decided to approach the education minister and chief minister, and I will help them."

Srilatha Ratnam, HoD of BSc IT at Wilson College, said, "The students had approached with their parents, and the same has been informed to the authorities in the college. The matter is being looked into and will be resolved following a meeting."

When contacted, the in-charge principal of Wilson College, Dr Jamson Masih, said that he had not received any official complaint from the students in the matter. Students said that they did not approach the principal directly as they were in touch with the HoD and head of the exam department.

"We were constantly in touch with our HoD madam and Michael sir from the exam department. Since nothing worked, we decided to get a legal opinion on the matter and contacted advocate Junnarkar," said a student.

20
No of students debarred from exams