Exams delayed, engg. students worry losing placements

Exams delayed, engg. students worry losing placements

Deemed and private varsity students safe as their online exams are over

10/07/2020

Engineering students of State universities after securing placements in IT companies are now unsure of their joining even as their peers in deemed universities enjoy that privilege.

With continuous postponement of final year exams, they are unsure of their result even as the deadlines of joining in several companies they were placed are already over. On the other hand, engineering students in deemed universities completed their examinations online and are ready to join the companies.

“Several of our classmates are worried over the delay in conducting the exams as the company deadlines for joining have either expired or nearing,” says Vaishnavi from Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT). “The government should do something fast so that students selected in the campus placement drive don’t lose out,” she says expressing the concerns of hundreds of such students in JNTU-H and Osmania University.

Final year students get job offers in the fifth semester itself but join after completing the exams, which are usually over by May-end with results declared in June. However, with the pandemic, universities have postponed exams several times and the issue has also landed up in the courts now.

It is not the problem of just JNTU-H or Osmania University but of all the government universities in the country as exams have been postponed due to the pandemic. However, private universities and deemed universities conducted their exams online. A representative of Gitam, a deemed-to-be-university, said that online exams were conducted and even certificates have been issued to students joining companies or going abroad for higher studies.

“Government should explore online exams method so that thousands of students who are placed in companies join without any hassles. Why should they lose out when deemed universities’ students have the advantage of online exams,” asks the placement officer of a reputed college NLN Reddy.

If the government decides to follow the UGC guidelines, exams will be conducted only in September and students will graduate in October. Will the IT companies give some flexibility to students is a question?

Some students, who have been recruited and unwilling to share their companies’ names, said a few IT firms have adjusted the joining dates but several companies are yet to reveal their plans. “The delay will complicate things for us as we fear companies may choose to recruit others,” said a student from a private engineering college recruited in an MNC.