With thousands of re-evaluation applications still pending, students are complaining about exam commencement. But there is no one to hear them
Another nail in Mumbai University's coffin? But, as usual, it's the students who are bearing the brunt of it. Turns out, the varsity forgot to set up a new Students' Grievance Cell after the existing one was dissolved last year. And it's coming to light only now, with the number of students and their problems increasing by the day but no one to address them.
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Representation pic
Despite thousands of re-evaluation results still pending, MU began its next semester exam. With no clarity on their previous results and no satisfactory answer from varsity's exam section, students started approaching the grievance cell, or so they thought. There is none.
Varsity's office has been accepting grievance applications, despite the cell no longer in existence. Representation pic
The office has been accepting grievance applications, only to pile them on to gather dust, it seems.
A stressed lot
There were 50,000 applications for re-evaluation after major goof-ups in the much-criticised On-Screen Marking system, which was introduced for evaluations last academic year.
"I have appeared for all papers. Yet, the university showed me absent in one, because of which the mark sheet reads 'RR' (Result is Reserved). For most such cases, university's examination section resolved the issue. But I was told to apply for re-evaluation. Why should I... when they haven't even assessed it yet? I approached the grievance cell last month, and I am still waiting for a response. And because the re-evaluation and re-examination last dates were passing, so I applied for both. This is really stressing," said a second-year LLB student from a Matunga college.
Another from Sophia College, who finished her BMM, has missed her chance to apply for a master's degree, as she is still waiting for her re-evaluation result. "First, I was marked absent even after appearing for the paper. There were a few others too. We all followed the process; my classmates got their results, I didn't. Then, I was told that maybe my answer sheets were among those missing. Finally, after getting my result, I saw that my score was low, which is not possible. Hence, I applied for re-evaluation and approached the grievance cell, but there's been no response yet," she said. There are little over 12,000 answer sheets pending re-evaluation.
In defence
When contacted, Dr Arjun Ghatule, director of Examinations and Evaluation, said, "There were over 50,000 applications for re-evaluation. We have already cleared so many. The work is being done as fast as possible. Re-evaluation is a facility that is provided to students; they shouldn't be complaining about it. Two teachers' scores are likely to differ. There should not be any grumbling unless the difference is too much."
"There are other varsity bodies too that are yet to be formed; the new act was being implemented, and hence, everything was on hold. Now, the varsity administration has begun constituting other bodies; the Students' Grievance Cell too will be formed soon," he added.
50,000
Number of re-evaluation applications
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