Madras varsity students with arrears to get min pass marks

Madras varsity students with arrears to get min pass marks

Decision To Help 1 Lakh Candidates

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:18.10.2020

University of Madras on Saturday decided to award minimum pass marks for candidates with arrears based on a government order. The resolution, passed by the university’s syndicate, is expected to help at least one lakh candidates in affiliated and autonomous colleges of the university.

“Students having arrears who have registered for exam will be given minimum pass by moderation in internal as well external examinations wherever necessary. The sum total of internal and external marks, however, should not exceed the overall passing minimum,” the resolution said.

However, a student with zero internal marks needs to appear for supplementary exams, the syndicate resolution said.

The state government had waived the arrears exams for all students in view of the still raging Covid-19 pandemic. The government exempted the candidates who had paid the fees for the April 2020 exam from appearing except for final semester students. It also asked the universities to award marks based on a 70% weightage for internal exams and 30% weightage for previous semester exams.

When calculated, many students with arrears were found to have more marks than the students without arrears. The university then decided to give a minimum pass for the students.

There is a court case regarding the waiving arrears exams in view of Covid-19. Officials from University of Madras said the case is not binding on the university as it was not added as one of the respondents in the case. The Madras high court adjourned the PIL against cancellation of arrears exams for the students.

Further, the officials said final year students with arrears have not able to finish their degrees and given the present situation it is not clear when the university would be able to conduct the exams. “In case students want to increase their marks, they can write improvement exams when the situation improves,” they said. Of the 57,875 who appeared for the UG and PG exams in the partly online test last month, 99% passed. In the previous semester, around 70% passed.

The govt waived arrears exams, awarding 70% for internal tests and 30% for previous semester exams. But, some with arrears got more than those without arrears