COIMBATORE: Due to an alleged administrative lapse at the Bharathiar University, it has come to light that the examination department accidently gave out first-year question papers to second-year MBA students taking their semester exam at its PG Extension and Research Centre in Erode in April.
Meanwhile, as the university withheld the exam results of around 100 second-year MBA students (batch 2024-2026) studying in the Coimbatore campus, citing question paper leakage. Subsequently, students complained to the higher education department, urging it to release their results considering their careers and higher studies.
According to sources, Bharathiar University conducted the MBA semester exams in April. The Strategic Management: Indian and Global Context (43A) exam was scheduled for second-year MBA students at the university’s Coimbatore and Erode campuses on April 16.
On April 16, around 30 second-year students in Erode campus were given the first-year question paper, Strategic Management: Indian and Global Context (23G) instead, and the students went on to complete the exam. Similarly, the second-year question paper was distributed to first-year MBA students on the same campuses, who wrote the exam on April 20.
On April 25, staff at the Erode centre realised that question papers had been swapped and informed the university’s head. During an inquiry, it was revealed that exam department staff had allegedly written the wrong question paper code on the sealed cover containing the question papers and sent it to the centre. During the examination, the teaching faculty also failed to verify the question paper.
“As per the committee’s recommendation, a re-exam was conducted in July for first and second-year students at the Erode centre and first-year students in Coimbatore. The results will be released soon. But second-year students in Coimbatore refused to write the re-exam,” the sources added.
A second-year MBA student in Coimbatore, said, “This lapse occurred at the Erode centre only, not in Coimbatore. In this case, only the first-year question paper was leaked in Erode on April 16, not second-year.”
“We wrote the second-year exam without any malpractice or fault. But the university is forcing us to take a re-exam, stating that our results will be published only after we do so. Many students oppose this decision as it affects our higher education admissions and employment prospects,” he said.
Another student said that some students had already joined organisations as management trainees or interns, while others were awaiting confirmation of permanent employment.
“Due to the delay in publishing the results and the non-availability of provisional certificates and mark statements, students were unable to submit the required documents to their employers. This had delayed students’ confirmation and put their employment opportunities at risk,” she said.
A senior official from the university’s examination department told TNIE, “Once the university became aware of the issue, it formed a committee. Based on the committee’s recommendations, re-exams were conducted for students, except for the second-year students in Coimbatore.” She said that the re-exam for the second-year students would be conducted on August 14, and the results would be released soon.
BU registrar R Rajavel said that he would take steps to release the result. Higher education secretary Dheeraj Kumar was not available for comment.