Indian Express: Mumbai: Wednesday, 30 April 2014.
The number of
students applying for re-evaluation of papers has gone up steadily in last
three years, according to a reply from Mumbai University to an RTI query.
While the
number of applications for re-evaluation received for exams conducted in the
first half of 2011 was 31,591, the number for the first half of 2012 was
41,498, while it was 43,256 for the corresponding period in 2013, reveals an RTI reply from MU to activist
Vihar Durve.
According to academicians, the increasing
number of applications for re-evaluation shows the falling standards of
assessment at the varsity.
Bad quality
of assessment of exam papers and delay in re-evaluation are two major problems
MU students are facing currently, Durve claimed. “Many students lose their
crucial year due to this, but still, the varsity does not seem to be putting
enough efforts to improve the quality of assessments. First, students are
wrongly failed or get less marks than they deserved and they have to apply for
re-evaluation. Then, the re-evaluation results are delayed and so students are
forced to appear for supplementary exams. This has become a vicious circle and
there is no end to it,” Durve said.
In a reply an
RTI application filed earlier by Durve in March 2014, MU revealed that over
25,000 students were wrongly failed over three semesters between 2012 and 2013.
The data shared through RTI showed that over 25,000 students passed after
re-evaluation.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Dr Naresh Chandra said increasing number of re-evaluation applications did not
simply mean that the quality of assessment was bad. Increasing number of
examinations and change in the examination pattern too lead to increased number
of revaluation applications, he said.
“In the last
decade, there have been many changes in the examination system of the varsity
from the number of examinations to its
pattern. Earlier, it was an annual exam system, now it is a semester system. However,
this does not mean the university is not doing anything to reduce the number of
re-evaluation cases. We are trying to bring in a transparent assessment system
wherein we can ensure students are satisfied with the first assessment, so that
the number of re-evaluation applications eventually come down. One such
initiative is the online assessment,” said Chandra.
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