JOIN USIn practically every film ever made about college life, there is bound to be a scene depicting a student entering a lecture late.
Either he or she receives a scolding in front of the whole classroom or is not allowed to attend the lecture.
Unfortunately for students, the punishment is not quite as mild anymore.
Not only does the high attendance requirement make it impossible for students to focus on non-academic activities; lack of attendance also means coughing up fairly large sums of money to be able to write one’s examinations.
At several colleges, strict measures are taken about late entry and attendance.
“Latecomers are not given attendance, because of which we face an attendance shortage. It isn’t like we’re trying to bunk the lecture but for whatever reason, we come five to ten minutes late. Yet we aren’t allowed to attend the class or get attendance. If we don’t have 85 per cent attendance at the end of the semester, we have to pay a fine. If it’s between 75 and 85 per cent, the fine is around Rs 500 but if it’s less than that, the fine is much more. They also threaten to detain us if we don’t attend classes properly. They also don’t let us write the internal examinations, which spoils our academic results,” says Sachin Singh, a student of Acharya Institute of Technology.
Snehal Moon, a first-year student at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, feels that the action taken against latecomers is justified.
“Being a professional college, I feel that it’s fine for a time-bound entry to be in place for each lecture. It’s only after the bell rings and the door is closed that the lecturer takes the attendance. Those who are not present automatically get marked absent. However, there are some lenient teachers who allow the students, who are late, to attend the class if they want but don’t give them attendance. Unfortunately, most of the times, students don’t do that because they are only there for the attendance,” says Snehal, adding that since many of the teachers provide reading material and article links on the topic discussed, it isn’t tough to gain knowledge if one is genuinely interested.
“According to me, the ideal punishment is missing the lesson. We are all adults and taking severe action against latecomers will hurt their ego. We have to maintain a 75 per cent attendance by the semester end, which isn’t too bad,” she adds.
Some colleges are more flexible when it comes to attendance.
“It totally depends on the subject teachers but many of them let us into class with a warning, which is a relief. There are also those who tell us to come for the next class,” shares Tressy Paul, a fourth-year student of BMS College of Engineering. “However, we too require 85 per cent attendance or we aren’t eligible to write the semester-end examinations in that subject,” she notes.