The ripples of the opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act were felt in engineering colleges in the State on Tuesday when many final-year students chose to boycott their examinations.
While the agitating students claimed that their action was also in solidarity with those who were unable to appear for the examinations on account of the Statewide hartal on Tuesday, the teaching community has been critical of the move, with many viewing the protest as ill-considered.
Exams disrupted
The exams were disrupted in 22 engineering colleges, including all the nine government and three aided institutions.
The other institutions that witnessed boycott of the exams included government-controlled self-financing colleges such as the Transport Department-managed Sree Chitra College of Engineering, Pappanamcode (SCTCE); the College of Engineering, Cherthala, which functions under the Institute of Human Resource Development (IHRD); and the Cooperative Academy of Professional Education-run colleges in Perumon, Pathanapuram, Aranmula, Vadakara and Thrikkarippur.
The students of three of the 110-odd self-financing engineering colleges, including AWH Engineering College, KMCT College of Engineering, both in Kozhikode, and KMEA Engineering College in Aluva, also boycotted the exams.
Notably, one student each in the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, and the SCTCE turned up for the exams, official sources said.
In the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, (CET) nearly 670 students abstained from the exam, despite the institution recording 99% attendance. The students laid siege to the office of the exam cell by 9 a.m. and the agitation lasted for over an hour.
Ironically, supplementary examinations of BTech examinations, conducted by the University of Kerala, were smoothly held in the CET and the SCTCE later in the day.
Even while supporting the cause, teaching faculties feared the move could affect the placement prospects of the final-year students.
Official stance
University authorities maintained that they had decided to go ahead with the examinations after weighing all options and deliberating with the government.
Besides, neither the Directorate of General Education nor any other State university had decided to postpone exam.
