Osmania plans to decentralise exams

Following frequent disruptions of examinations in the wake of the Telangana agitation, the Osmania University administration is thinking of decentralising examinations allowing affiliated colleges to conduct them at their convenience, but under the watchful eyes of the varsity observers.

In the last 18 months, exams in the Osmania University region have been used as a ‘tool' by the activists to espouse the Telangana cause.

Exams were repeatedly postponed following boycott threats and when the first and third semester exams were held in January on the insistence of Higher Education Minister Damodar Rajnarsimha, the attendance was nil in the university colleges and sparse in affiliated colleges. The boycott call was total in the initial days but attendance picked up as the media coverage declined.

Valuation

Realising the ‘mob mentality' leading to disruption of the schedule, the university is now thinking of decentralising the exams. It means hundreds of affiliated colleges can conduct exams at their convenience. A university observer will oversee the process.

Officials feel this will work as the schedule will be staggered and there will be little information coming out in open. However, valuation will be done as per the existing norms.

Discussions

In fact, OU Vice-Chancellor T. Tirupati Rao has been holding discussions with principals to impress upon students to write exams. Senior teachers have also been reminding students that they had been victims of the 1969 agitation when an entire academic year was lost. “We have to ensure that students don't lose an academic year. Majority students want to write examinations,” a senior official said. In fact, even those active in the Telangana agitation prefer treating exams and agitation separately.

“Students are smarter now,” an official said. In fact, they realised that boycotting the first and third semester exams held in January will not directly affect their final result as they can still write those papers in the second and fourth semester exams scheduled in April and May. Another positive signal for the university authorities comes from the politicians who did not intervene this time. “After all they too don't want students from Telangana to lose an academic year,” the official said.

Source : The Hindu