Kerala University on Tuesday acknowledged lapses in its examination system that led to the loss of several answer sheets from an MBA examination held last year.
The university reiterated its decision to conduct a re-examination for the affected students on April 7. An additional opportunity will be provided on April 22 for those unable to attend. The special examination will take place across seven colleges, and students will be allowed to choose centres closest to their homes.
The university also stated that the teacher responsible for the loss of the answer sheets will be debarred from examination duties. Further disciplinary measures, including possible suspension, are being considered.
The issue surfaced when 71 MBA students from five colleges were asked to retake the Project Finance paper from the third semester, originally held in May 2024, after it emerged that their answer scripts had gone missing during transit in Palakkad.
Vice-Chancellor (in-charge) Mohanan Kunnummal, who convened meetings to discuss the matter, said the results of the third-semester exams would be published within three to four days after the re-examination. The evaluation of the fourth-semester exams was underway and would be completed within a month.
Prior to the meetings, a delegation of the affected students requested that marks be granted based on the average of previous exam results, avoiding a re-examination. However, the university rejected the suggestion, citing concerns that it could affect students’ future prospects and disadvantage those who had failed in prior attempts.
Expressing their discontent, the students said they planned to take legal action, arguing that they had not been consulted on the matter. Many of the affected students, who had completed their courses last year, were currently employed outside the State or abroad, making it difficult for them to attend the re-examinations on short notice.
Prof. Kunnummal admitted the university’s shortcomings, explaining that the answer sheets were evaluated seven months after the exams took place. He also pointed out that while the teacher reported the loss of the papers on January 14, two months passed before the university took action. He attributed this delay to systemic failures within the university, which struggled to respond due to time-consuming processes.
The university planned to implement a daily monitoring system to address examination-related issues and grant more power to the Controller of Examinations to take immediate action. The university would also introduce an on-screen digital evaluation system within a year.
Prof. Kunnummal highlighted the reluctance among teachers of self-financing colleges in evaluating answer scripts due to lack of remuneration. The issue stemmed from the implementation of the UGC norm that did not permit remunerating teachers who received UGC-scale salaries for evaluating answer scripts.
“Strangely, this was applied in the case of teachers from unaided colleges too, who receive much lower salaries. Besides, some colleges deny wages to teachers on days when they attend valuation camps. This has led to a crisis in the case of courses, including MBA, LLB and BTech, that are predominantly offered by affiliated self-financing colleges. Under such circumstances, many teachers prefer to take answer sheets home for valuation,” he said.
To resolve the issue, the university will offer remuneration to teachers evaluating answer sheets, and also centralise the evaluation process in future.
However, pro-Left Syndicate members denied any lapses by the university in handling the issue.
Published – April 01, 2025 08:34 pm IST