PU cancels Punjabi examination

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, December 23

Panjab University today cancelled the Paper-IV of third semester, MA (Punjabi), after students complained that it carried questions not part of their syllabus.

The staff members on duty at various centres were in for a shock when they learnt from the examinees that although the option written on the paper was correct, the questions posed to them were from some other option, which was neither chosen by them, nor taught to them.

The superintendents immediately informed the university authorities about the discrepancy, following which the paper was cancelled.

Jaswinder Singh, a student of Arya College, Ludhiana, said: “Earlier, too, two of our papers have been postponed to January next year. Now, this paper, too, got cancelled. I thought I’ll be free by the end of this month and then I would prepare for my IELTS exam. Now, however, I am stuck with these exams.”

Dr Sukhwinder Singh Virk, head of the Punjabi department at Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, said this was not for the first time that the university had committed such a “blunder”.

“There have been instances when papers were out of syllabus, at other times the pattern of the question paper did not match the expected one and there have also been cases of papers getting mixed up at the printing press,” he said.

Harpreet Dua, a PU Senator, said, “Such blunders cause a lot of inconvenience to students. A thorough probe is needed to find the person responsible for this.”

The fresh date for holding the exam is yet to be announced.