Law students in colleges affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) fear that the delay in the conduct of pending semester exams will affect their academic and career prospects.
The students have formed a collective to press their demand for the timely conduct of the semester exams. The varsity has not yet scheduled exams for the ninth and tenth semester students. Any further delay will affect their plans to pursue higher studies. Those wishing to pursue a career in law would also be affected, they said.
A student representative pointed out that the fourth and fifth semester exams for students now in their sixth semester were pending. The exams for two semesters remain pending for those in the eighth semester. For those who have completed their fourth semester, three exams are pending. The results of exams that were held earlier had not been published yet, she said.
The students alleged that the pending exams should have been held before the outbreak of COVID-19. The five-year LL.B course will be stretched following the delay in the conduct of exams and the publication of results. The students said they had petitioned the Governor (Chancellor of the varsity) and the Higher Education Minister regarding the delay.
The university authorities referred to a strike by the students demanding that the end semester exams should be held ahead of the other semesters. The fourth semester exams were postponed following the strike. “However, we have decided to schedule the pending exams without delay. The process will start by this week,” they said.
The collective demanding speedy conduct of exams includes students from Government Law College, Ernakulam; Bharata Mata School of Legal Studies, Ernakulam; S.N. College, Poothotta; CSI College for Legal Studies, Kottayam; Al Azhar Law College, Thodupuzha; Mount Zion Law College, Kadamanitta; and Co-operative School of Law, Thodupuzha. The students are planning a virtual march on social media platforms and other innovative protests to press their demand.
