College gives 200% grace marks to do 'justice' to students
In an attempt to put a gloss on its performance, the city’s premier engineering institute, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) at Matunga, is giving diploma students grace marks that are almost twice their actual scores.
According to faculty members, a large number of students from seven diploma branches have been "generously" given grace marks ranging from ten to 15 this year for 70-mark exams. One of them, a first semester student of the four-year licentiate textile manufacturing course, had scored a mere 8. He was awarded 15 grace marks to reach a total of 23, which is the minimum passing mark.
VJTI offers licentiate diploma courses in mechanical, electrical, electronic, civil and textile engineering. Director K G Narayankhedkar acknowledged that high grace marks were being awarded as a way of doing "justice" to students. "We don’t want students to suffer, so we give them grace marks. Our passing results have been around 50%, but this year they have improved," he added.
He admitted that examiners had opposed this decision, but said that he would meet them and persuade them to see his point of view. Conventionally, most universities have set rules for awarding grace marks. Mumbai University, for instance, grants a maximum of five marks as grace in one subject and a total of ten between two subjects.
At VJTI, however, there are no rules and faculty can give grace marks in any number of subjects. This is not the first time that the autonomous VJTI has resorted to such largess. Last year, too, according to senior lecturers, grace marks were liberally given out and the decision to do so was opposed by examiners even then. This time, they have submitted a letter to the director (a copy of which is available with TOI) criticising the move towards "extraordinarily high" grace marks.
Peeved examiners now want the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education and Mumbai University to send their review teams to the campus and reconsider the institute’s autonomous status.
:tea:
In an attempt to put a gloss on its performance, the city’s premier engineering institute, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) at Matunga, is giving diploma students grace marks that are almost twice their actual scores.
According to faculty members, a large number of students from seven diploma branches have been "generously" given grace marks ranging from ten to 15 this year for 70-mark exams. One of them, a first semester student of the four-year licentiate textile manufacturing course, had scored a mere 8. He was awarded 15 grace marks to reach a total of 23, which is the minimum passing mark.
VJTI offers licentiate diploma courses in mechanical, electrical, electronic, civil and textile engineering. Director K G Narayankhedkar acknowledged that high grace marks were being awarded as a way of doing "justice" to students. "We don’t want students to suffer, so we give them grace marks. Our passing results have been around 50%, but this year they have improved," he added.
He admitted that examiners had opposed this decision, but said that he would meet them and persuade them to see his point of view. Conventionally, most universities have set rules for awarding grace marks. Mumbai University, for instance, grants a maximum of five marks as grace in one subject and a total of ten between two subjects.
At VJTI, however, there are no rules and faculty can give grace marks in any number of subjects. This is not the first time that the autonomous VJTI has resorted to such largess. Last year, too, according to senior lecturers, grace marks were liberally given out and the decision to do so was opposed by examiners even then. This time, they have submitted a letter to the director (a copy of which is available with TOI) criticising the move towards "extraordinarily high" grace marks.
Peeved examiners now want the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education and Mumbai University to send their review teams to the campus and reconsider the institute’s autonomous status.
:tea: