KOTTAYAM: Even as the Kerala Governor and chancellor of state universities Arif Muhammed Khan expressed his strong displeasure over the controversies surrounding the higher education sector of the state, Mahatma Gandhi University, which was at the receiving end of criticism over mark donation and illegal moderation, has initiated procedures to take back the degree certificates from 118 engineering students, who passed BTech course with the help of special moderation awarded by the syndicate.
On the basis of a decision taken by the syndicate on October 24 to withdraw its earlier decision to award a special moderation of five marks to B.Tech students, who failed in any one of the 56 subjects altogether in the course, the university had issued an order on November 26 for the purpose and later came out with a notification cancelling the consolidated grade cards, provisional certificates and degree certificates.
The university has also published the list of all the 118 students. According to university registrar K Sabukuttan, the varsity has started issuing memos to these students asking them to surrender their certificates without delay. “On the basis of order and ensuing notification, memos were sent to more than 100 students through registered post. We hope to complete sending the memos by Monday. The notification has already been published on the university’s website and it will soon be published in the gazette as well,” he said.
The university order also entrusted the controller of examinations to register a complaint with the police against students who refuse to surrender their certificates even after receiving the memo. At the same time, the university will provide an opportunity for students, who failed to apply for revaluation for the supplementary examination held in 2018 as they passed with the help of syndicate moderation, to file a request for revaluation.
Moreover, if any student, who passed with syndicate moderation, passes in the following supplementary examination, their registration will be reinstated and they will be awarded a mark list, provisional and degree certificates.
A decision to give special moderation to B.Tech students was taken in a meeting of MGU syndicate held on April 30, 2019. The decision courted controversies as the syndicate had no powers to award moderation. Moreover, the decision was taken after the results were announced.
Restoring credibility
The order issued by the MG University also authorises the controller of examinations to lodge a police complaint against those students who choose to ignore the directive and refuse to surrender their certificates even after receiving the memo