Bengaluru City Students Say PU Department Shirking Responsibility

Indian Express: Bengaluru: Wednesday, 10 February 2016.

City PU students think the new rules introduced by the Pre-university Education Department, including one that says second-year students cannot go to court over marks, are unconstitutional.

A circular issued by the department also says students cannot use the RTI Act to access answer scripts, that the department is not responsible for delays, and that students should not share scans with the college or media.

City Express spoke to some PU students from the city on their views on this development.

“The new guidelines show that the department is incapable of handling any responsibility. The board also forgot about middle and lower rungs of the society when it increased the revaluation and examination fees,” said Tejas Rajashekar, a student at ASC Independent College.

He also said asking the student fraternity to not to go to court over answer script evaluation was unconstitutional. “We students will protest against this order,” he added.

This notification is an attempt by the department to snatch away students’ rights, said Mount Carmel College student Vallari Parashar. “If the process of revaluation is not transparent, I don’t see the point in having the option,” she said.

Nagabhishek of Jain College called the notification highly inappropriate. “The PU department is simply trying to escape responsibility. If they cannot take responsibility for delay in providing copies of the answer script, who can help us get admission into colleges for higher studies?” he questioned.

Megha Srinath from the same college agrees with her batch mates. “We should be provided a platform to get justice, to claim what we deserve,” she told City Express.

Another Jain College student Sriniketh Dayalu thinks the department cannot evade responsibility for mistakes in evaluation. “We study hard and answer the questions. If they (the department) make mistakes in valuation, it is their fault,” he said.

Those unhappy with their results should be free to approach the court, he added. “But if they make it mandatory for us to sign an undertaking that we won’t before we appear for the exam, students will not be left with much choice.”