No marks for attendance in Anna varsity

The university does away with 5% marks for centum attendance, 75% minimum to stay

May 02, 2012 01:26 am | Updated July 05, 2016 06:55 pm IST - CHENNAI:

CHENNAI, 11/01/2011:  Civil Engineering  students at Class Room, Anna University  on Tuesday. Photo: R_Ragu

CHENNAI, 11/01/2011: Civil Engineering students at Class Room, Anna University on Tuesday. Photo: R_Ragu

If marks were the only incentive for many engineering students to log 100 per cent attendance in class, the situation may change soon. The Anna University has done away with the variable part of the exam results that is determined by the number of classes attended every semester.

Till now, five per cent of the marks scored by every student depended on his/her attendance in class. This was in addition to the mandatory 75 per cent attendance for every course, which still remains in place.

The decision was taken after a Syndicate meeting held on Monday. The rule will be applicable with immediate effect in the four colleges under Anna University.

The decision, said M. Sekar, Dean, College of Engineering, Guindy, was taken after the heads of various engineering department and lecturers suggested that it was getting increasingly difficult for them to keep track of every student's attendance. “Every student goes either for sports activities, competitions and fests which comprise at least 15 per cent of the total attendance. Teachers have said that once students have the necessary 75 per cent minimum attendance, there is no need to keep count further.”

Students are quite happy with the new rule as many who often scored good marks in both internal and external exams lost out on marks only because their attendance was not above 95 per cent. Until now, students who had 95-100 per cent attendance was awarded the full 5 per cent marks while those with the minimum 75 per cent attendance would not get any marks. “The attendance score often influences teachers marking our internals. Many students would attend classes only because they wanted the marks and not because they were interested,” said Rajendra, a student of the Madras Institute of Technology.

“Does it mean we are allowed to bunk 25 per cent of the classes,” asked another student, who pointed out that these ‘marks devoted to attendance' often made him attend classes which he would skip otherwise. Now, 45 per cent of the student's score depend on her performance in internal exams.

Teachers, on the other hand, are quite happy with the new rule. A lecturer in the mechanical department of Anna University said, “It is a pain to have students who are not interested in attending classes but do so just for the sake of it. Teachers need to find other ways of urging students to attend classes by making them more engaging.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.