Allegedly warned of stringent action for failing to log in for 40 consecutive hours of online assessment, faculty members take to Facebook to protest; students enter fray
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As Mumbai University races against the clock to meet the July 31 deadline to declare results, its alleged "stringent" measure to get lecturers to speed up the online assessment of answer sheets has sparked anger within the teaching fraternity.
To facilitate quick evaluation, MU had shut colleges and put lectures on hold for a week.
Earlier this week, Vinayak Dalvie, officer on special duty for the evaluation work, allegedly shot off a circular addressed to all lecturers, warning them of stringent action if they failed to log on for the on-screen marking of papers for 40 hours at a stretch. Faculty members questioned his authority to issue such a "threat".
A senior MU faculty member, Dr Neeraj Hatekar, took to Facebook to vent his ire. "Mumbai University and college teachers have worked hard to get the University out of the mess that it has got itself into," read his post. Blaming the online evaluation software, inadequate infrastructure and lack of coordination within the university for the "mess", he said, "Teachers are, in fact, helping the University as much as possible. Yet, the Officer on Special Duty, Vinayak Dalvie is going around threatening teachers with "stringent action". This is completely unacceptable."
Students go ballistic
The post went viral, but didn't sit well with a few students. They asked why the academic council — of which lecturers are a part — had cleared the online assessment process without adequate time or infrastructure.
Dalvie denied having issued such a circular. "I didn't send out any warning notice. There must have been some misunderstanding." While Education Minister Vinod Tawde's office maintains that the results will be out on time, he has voiced concerns the MU will miss the deadline.
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