MSc students seek access to practical marks under RTI

Times of India‎‎‎‎‎: Aurangabad: Tuesday, June 14, 2016.

A few minority community students of the Government Institute of Science have demanded access to their practical assessment marks under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The students, who have completed their master's in Geology, have accused their teachers of deliberately giving them poor marks in internal assessment even though they had performed well.

As per the RTI rules, only theory papers can be accessed.

"While I secured relatively good marks in theory papers, I was allotted poor marks in internal assessment. My fellow classmates got good marks though. To prove that we have been targeted by a section of our faculty, we need access to practical assessment marks under the RTI Act," said a student, requesting anonymity.

Besides oral examination, the internal assessment also involved drawing of graphs, spotting the object and some descriptive answers among other exercises.

The aggrieved students claimed that poor internal marks have reduced their overall pass percentage drastically, affecting their career prospects.

"My pass percentage has gone below 55%, making me ineligible for NET-SET or Ph.D entrance examination of different universities,"said another affected student.

Hemlata Wankhede, director of the Government Institute of Science, said head of the Geology department was in the know of the situation.

Department head K M Wanjarwadkar said the college faculty did not have a role in the assessment of students. The same was done by external examiners.

"As far as access to practical work under RTI Act is concerned, the assessment has been already submitted to the university. The varsity officials can take a call and decide the merit in allegations levelled by students," said Wanjarwadkar.

Digambar Netke, officiating controller of examination (CoE) of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU), could not be reached for a comment. Senior university officials said only theory papers are handed over to students under the RTI Act as per the laid down rules.

It may be noted that the students had complained about not receiving photocopy of their answersheet even if more than two months had lapsed to making necessary applications. The students had accused the college of delay on its part in the whole process, but college authorities had refused the charge.