JNTU disallows 5,000 students.
The Jawaharlal Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad has barred nearly 5,000 second, third and final year students from appearing for the B.Tech and B.Pharmacy examinations that are scheduled to begin from November 15. The students were barred as they had “insufficient attendance.”
As per JNTU norms, students must have 75 per cent attendance to be eligible for the exams. However, a 10 per cent concession regarding the attendance is given on medical grounds but students who have below 65 per cent attendance are not allowed to take the exams.
Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor (VC) of the JNTU, Hyderabad, Prof. D.N. Reddy, is under immense political pressure to allow such students to appear for the exams. Several ministers, MPs, MLAs and other public representatives are making repeated calls to the VC and are even sending recommendation letters asking him to allow the students to take the exams.
Officials of the JNTU said that even though the problem of less attendance is a common occurrence every year, this year the situation is really bad as the politicians have become aggressive and some people have even threatened to hold demonstrations and dharnas on the university campus.
“I can’t permit students who have less than 65 per cent attendance to sit for the semester examinations. The university is implementing the government’s orders on minimum attendance and any decision to relax the rule has to be taken by the government,” said Prof. Reddy.
Senior professors opined that growing absenteeism was due to “non-serious students” taking admissions in engineering colleges given the availability of seats and the fee reimbursement scheme. “It is the non-serious candidates who resort to using pressure and involve politicians,” said a senior professor at the university, Prof. Chakradhar Rao.
The university has directed all its affiliated engineering colleges to display the attendance of their students on the college notice board every month as well as to send an SMS to the parents of students whose attendance is irregular so that the parents are informed about their child’s attendance.
Source: DC