Students protest ‘faulty’ semester paper checking

Patiala, August 17

Punjabi University students today launched a protest demanding re-evaluation of papers after many of them failed or were awarded zero marks in the semester examinations, the results of which were released recently.

According to students, the university awarded far less marks and failed students who had been performing ‘very well’ in previous examinations. Students of various courses, including LLB, PGDCA and BA, those from the department of distance learning and others from affiliated colleges gathered on the campus over the matter.

Karan Singh, one of the protesters, said, “The university has failed 87 out of 92 students of the PGDCA course. Similarly, over 300 students have been awarded zero marks in one or the other paper despite the fact that they performed well in the previous semester examinations.”

The students said the university had been making mistakes in checking answer sheets.

“We had held a protest earlier as well, but were assured then that the university will recheck the papers and release the results. However, it has not been done yet,” Karan added.

Another protester said, “We will have to pay re-evaluation fees in case we want to go for re-checking. Also, the university takes a lot of time, up to six months, in releasing the result. We want that the result of re-evaluation and re-appear exams should be released within two months.”

Dr AK Tiwari, Controller of Examinations, said, “Some students scored zero and some others low. We got the papers of 20 of them re-checked upon their request without collecting re-evaluation fees to see if the marks increased. However, only two of them passed with an increase. Still, we are conducting re-evaluation of papers. The results will be declared in a few days.”

The protest continued on the campus till the filing of this report.

Rechecking on, results soon

“Some students scored zero and some others low. We got the papers of 20 of them rechecked upon their request without collecting re-evaluation fees to see if the marks increased. However, only two of them passed with an increase. Still, we are conducting re-evaluation of papers. The results will be declared in a few days,” said Dr AK Tiwari, Controller of Examinations