B'lore varsity postpones BEd exams for third time

Bangalore University’s BEd students are in an endless wait for their semester exams as the university has rescheduled the end semester exams for the third time in the last three months.

The students are on a study holiday for the last two months. As a result of the delay in the exam, the semester vacation, which is usually 25 days has stretched up to 60 days this time, according to faculty of the BEd colleges in the City.

The exam, which was initially planned for April, is now tentatively fixed for June 10. In between, the university pushed the dates of the exam many times, putting students in jeopardy. The exams, originally scheduled to begin from April 23, was postponed to May 23 and later to June 5.

Even as the students were waiting for their admission tickets, four days ahead of the exam, the university has now sent a circular saying that the exam will be conducted on June 10. Students were assured of their admission tickets by June 3. However, principals of colleges in the City said students' enrolment for the exams had not been confirmed in many cases, leave alone admission tickets.

In an official statement on Saturday, University Registrar (evaluation) R K Somashekar announced the dates afresh for the first semester exam, attributing the delay to colleges not submitting relevant data on time. Earlier, the exam dates were changed owing to private managements' row over college affiliation.

Following the varsity’s BEd Task Force report that recommended disaffiliation of under-performing colleges, managements protested against the recommendations.
Colleges not intimated

Colleges have not received any communication from the university that the exam will not be held on June 5.

“This is news to me. I was under the assumption that the exams would start from June 5 and we had made all preparations. We have not yet received any intimation,” said H S Ganesh Bhatta, principal, MES Teachers' College. Students are under a lot of stress and are demotivated. This is also causing a lot of administrative problems, he added.

Normally, the second semester begins in July and the teaching practice, that is part of the course work, has to be held in the same month. This time, it would not be possible for colleges to reopen by July, as the examination evaluation work will not be over yet.

“The coursework has to get over by November. My apprehension is that this year’s batch will spill over to 2014. Unless, the vice chancellor and the registrar take a strong stand, there is no end to this problem,” he opined.