Post-graduate students on Mangalore University campus staged a protest in front of the administrative building on Wednesday against the university again postponing the odd semester examinations of the academic year 2020-21 scheduled to begin on Thursday on an instruction by Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada K.V. Rajendra.
The students, led by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), said that it is not fair to have postponed the examinations citing as reason a rise in COVID-19 cases and fearing that it is being spread from Kerala. They demanded that the examinations should be conducted as scheduled.
The students said that many students have arrived to join hostels on campus from far-off places. There is no clarity when the examinations will be rescheduled again. They are caught in a Catch 22 situation not able to return to their houses without clarity on the next date of examinations.
Some students said that they hired taxis to reach Mangalagangotri campus to appear for the examinations by avoiding public transportation. Also, a few students from other States arrived in the city by air. But the Dakshina Kannada administration is least bothered in understanding their plight and the trauma which they were undergoing due to frequent postponement of examinations, online classes due to COVID-19 and lockdown this year.
They said that undergraduate students too are facing similar trauma.
Vice-Chancellor P.S. Yadapadithaya, who received a memorandum from the students, told them that the Registrar (Administration) and the Registrar (Evaluation) will meet the Deputy Commissioner late on Wednesday and explain to him the prevailing situation. The Deputy Commissioner will be persuaded to allow the university to hold the examinations. He said that the university, at the same time, will have to cooperate with the administration to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection.
