Degree students have to slog it out

MANGALORE: The proposal of Mangalore University to reduce the number of examination papers for the degree courses is unlikely to be implemented this academic year. Reason: The proposal has been withheld at the government level for the past six months.
The Academic Council of the university had approved these regulations at its meeting on January 28 and the amended draft regulations governing the credit-based semester scheme for undergraduate courses was sent to the department of higher education in February.But six months have passed and the university has not been able to get a approval.
University officials say the department has been sitting on the proposal and seeking one or other clarification. Though senior officials of the university visited Bangalore and held parleys with officials of the department of higher education no solution has yet come out, they said adding that it may not be possible to implement the revised pattern from this academic year.
The university introduced the credit-based semester scheme for degree courses in 2006-07, following directions from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to all universities. Since then, students have been forced to write twice the number of examination under the current scheme vis-a-vis the annual scheme. Teachers, too, have been complaining of being over-burdened under the credit-based semester scheme. The university had decided to revise the pattern after discussions with teachers and experts.