Monday, February 21, 2011

Need for reforms in BU guidelines

The higher education minister feels the existing model adversely affects the quality of education as backlog is permitted without a cap. Statistics reveal hundreds of final year graduate students haven’t cleared a single paper in the first two years
Higher education minister V S Acharya has shot off a letter to BU asking it to check the current model, where a student can study for three years without passing a single subject.

In his letter, the minister referred to the deteriorating quality of education because of the carry-over system. He pointed out that while technical and medical education had a cap on the carry-over system, there were no checks and balances in degree education.

There are five papers in the first semester and another five in the second. A student can easily go to the second year without clearing any of the ten papers. Similarly, a student is also eligible to move to the third year with a backlog of another 10 papers (including the third and four semesters).
Bangalore Mirror/ Sridhar Vivan

Sources say hundreds of students are studying in the third year with a backlog of 20 papers.

The minister’s letter comes at a time when BU’s semester system has been targeted by educationists. BJP MLC and educationist M R Doreswamy Naidu too had asked Acharya to review the BU model sometime ago. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Doreswamy said, he had raised the issue in the legislative council as well, but he did not receive a convincing answer.

He had seen many students suffer because of the existing pattern. “I have seen students go to college everyday and their parents have no clue that their children have actually failed in all the subjects. A student who failed in all the 20 subjects in both the years was struggling to write 32 papers in one year. This type of system only serves to bring down the quality of education.

It is high time we changed the system”, he said, adding that the huge backlog generally made students desperate.

BU vice-chancellor N Prabhu Dev said he had indeed received a letter from Acharya. “We have constituted a committee of deans to look into the issue. Based on their recommendation, we will decide on the future course of action.” Meanwhile, Doreswamy has suggested that BU should impose a cap on students to complete all the papers in the first two years before they actually enter the third year. “Similarly, a student should be allowed to enter the next year only if he clears a minimum of two subjects.”

But students think otherwise. Anand Raj, a third year BA student, said, “This will affect students adversely. Unlike VTU, BU does not have a supplementary exam system. This means a student will have to sit at home for one year if he fails in his exam. So, the varsity needs to look into all aspects before modifying the existing system.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,
As a citizen of Karnataka I would like to suggest you to implement "EQUAL EDUCATION" - so that every school should collect the same fees
which is affordable for the Middle Class & low Class People so that Every parents will be interested to give Education for their children