Inconsistent attendance policy troubles DU students

Delhi University students writing the semester exams are now subject to a hopelessly inconsistent attendance policy across colleges. While some colleges are yet to compute attendance and are allowing everyone to write exams, another set has set the minimum attendance mark lower than the university-stipulated 66.6%. A third set of colleges say that as instructions giving principals power to decide have not been issued in writing, they will be following the 66.6% norm.

Kamala Nehru College brought the number of detainees down from 253 to 80 by lowering the minimum attendance mark to 50%. "Since the university has given principals the power to take decisions on their own, we decided, judiciously, to reduce it to 50% to accommodate as many as possible. The decision has been supported by the staff council and attendance committee," says Geetesh Nirban, spokesperson, KNC.

Its neighbour, Gargi College, is allowing everyone for now. But whether the set of students writing the exams now will be allowed to take the second or fourth semester exams will depend on their attendance. "The science practicals start very early. We are going to calculate it yearly and draw up the list of those short of attendance in March or April," says Gargi principal, Meera Ramachandran.

The situation is the same at Dyal Singh College. They will be sticking to 66.6% but are yet to compile the data. "Unless we get something in writing, I have no powers to alter things. We are now letting students write the exams and are simultaneously compiling the list. If we find students have fallen short we will have to stop them," says principal I S Bakshi.

In North Campus, Ramjas College has lowered the minimum attendance to 22%. "We wanted to allow as many students as possible," says principal, Rajendra Prasad. Khalsa College, too, is allowing all students to write. "We got the parents to submit undertakings and warned them that this concession will not be available from next time," says principal Jaswinder Singh.

The question teachers are asking is what will happen to the students who are detained. "Abroad, if you are detained for one semester, you write the exam in the next. What we have here is neither annual nor semester and in this hybrid system you waste a year. But next year there will be a four-year system in place," observes Sanam Khanna who teaches English at KNC.

Moreover, the new exam policies have, apparently, left students "frazzled". "The first page, where the students are required to fill in details, has changed a lot. They have introduced many more parameters and new roll-number formats. Students were frazzled as they weren't informed in advance and were filling it wrong. It's a good system but they sent three-four page instructions for invigilators on the morning of the exam. The adhocism is monumentally foolish," says a teacher.