The change in the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University's rules for examination and promotion of students has invited a backlash from its students even as the varsity claims that the new scheme of things will reduce the burden on them.
In a protest memorandum, the students have claimed that the usual practice of the university had been to promote them even if they had not cleared their papers in a particular year and they could attempt these papers in the following years.
As per the new rules, the students will be promoted to the next academic year only if they have obtained at least 50 per cent of the total credits of the current academic year or 90 per cent of the total credits of all the previous years excluding the credits of the current academic year.
Effectively this implies that those who score less than the above criteria will have to drop a year. Earlier the students were promoted to the next year in which they were required to clear the year's examinations as well as the previous ones which they could not pass.
The students have further alleged that the university had implemented the new rules in mid-session without any prior notice.
The university said in a statement that the students' opposition to and apprehension against the new system “is completely misplaced and unjustified” and is “beneficial for their career advancement”. “Previously the students used to be promoted to the next academic year even without obtaining a single credit due to which they had to bear the load of credits in the final year” and this adversely affected their overall performance, the statement said.
According to the university, the new system would ease the examination burden and it would be more convenient for the students to pass their exams in a phased manner. Further, the university allotted the students two years in addition to the normal duration of a course to complete the programme.
