Arts students find English exam tough

The paper of language skills-listening and speaking (AEC), introduced under the NEP for the first time, left students and teachers bewildered. The paper was hard for BA students while it was comparatively easier for BSc, BCom and BBA students. English is a common subject, so the difficulty level should be the same for all streams, demanded students and teachers. They have urged the university to either give grace marks or conduct a re-exam for the BA students.

The students and faculty from BCom-I, BSc-I, BBA-I, and BCA-I found the exam much easier. The disparity in the level of the AEC English in BA exam and other courses led to widespread resentment among students and faculty.

“The paper was difficult and we are finding it tough to score passing marks. This is the case with the majority of other students. While framing of the syllabus of AEC in New Education Policy, the difficulty level was completely overlooked with regard to rural students. We want a re-test or grace marks in any case,” said students.

“Many students from BA-I expressed frustration over the inclusion of phonetic transcription, a topic absent from the exams of other streams. The inclusion of phonetic transcription exclusively for BA-I students has drawn significant criticism. While students of BCom-I, BSc-I, BBA-I, and BCA-I faced a straightforward paper, the BA-I exam included a challenging section that was not a part of the other exams,” shared Prof Simarjeet Kaur, an English teacher.

Sushminder Jeet Kaur, Head of English Department, GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana, said the question paper for BA-1 had an excessive focus on phonetics, making it challenging for students. “As opposed to this, streams like BCom, BSc, BCA, and BBA had fewer phonetics-based questions, thus creating a disparity. The question of phonetic transcription was also missing in the question papers of other streams. The BA 1 paper was also time-consuming, and students felt they needed more time to complete it effectively,” she added.

“In the ability enhancement paper of English conducted in the evening was of moderate difficult level. However, BA-I students who appeared for the exam in the morning session found it more difficult. I believe the paper must be re-conducted,” said a professor on the condition of anonymity.

“The weightage of the English compulsory paper from 50 marks to 30 marks is a retrograde measure. This draconian reduction undermines the importance of linguistic proficiency and literary discernment. Furthermore, the shortened time-frame of 1.5 hours adds to students woes,” said Prof Dinesh Kumar, Head, English Department, AS College, Khanna.

Dr Nargis Dhillon, Member, Board of Studies in English, Panjab University, Chandigarh, said: “Since the syllabus is same for all the streams, conducting different papers for different streams makes no sense.”