Tight exam schedules have put sixth semester BTech students of Kerala University in a fix. The sixth semester (S6) regular exams and the fourth semester (S4) supplementary exams have been scheduled in such a manner that the students will be forced to sit for up to five exams next week.
For some of the branches, the S6 exams began on April 29. They have three exams in a week. For the others, the regular exams began on May 6. The S4 supplementary exams will begin on May 9 and continue till May 23. The students said that the S6 exam timetable was a headache from the beginning as it had only a day’s gap between the exams.
The supplementary exam timetable for S4 made matters worse as exams were scheduled on ‘free’ days. The students with arrears will have to write exams one after the other. For a few students who fell sick last year and couldn’t attend the exams, their regular exams come in between the supplementary exams, posing a great threat to placements. “Students who were sure about passing failed because of the negligence of the teachers who corrected the papers and are waiting for the revaluation results. The revaluation results are not yet out and students are forced to pay and write the exams again under great pressure,” a Kerala University BTech student said, on conditions of anonymity. “Several petitions were submitted to the VC and the Controller of Examinations of Kerala University but we didn’t get any positive response from their side yet,” the student said.
“Supplementary exams cannot be postponed as it results in course lag. Moreover study holidays are usually given only for regular exams and not for supplementary exams. We are trying to publish the revaluation results before May 9. 400 employees are working in the examination wing for the same,” said P K Radhakrishnan, VC, Kerala University.
“The university is likely to postpone an S6 exam scheduled to be held on May 16 as it is the counting day for the LS elections,” he said.