100 ‘errant’ students of Mithibai College to lose 1 year

MUMBAI: Around 100 undergraduate students of Mithibai College who were debarred from sixth semester exams in March-April this year due to lack of attendance, are set to lose six more months. Dashing their hopes of appearing for the exams in October, the college has asked the students to take admission in the sixth semester, sit for lectures, fulfill the attendance requirement and then appear for the exams in March-April next year.
About 56 of the affected BCom students had moved court before their March-April exam.However, their petition was dismissed. Most of these students fell short of minimum attendance requirement of 50%. Some of them even fell short by 2-3%, claimed students.
“We are being punished twice for the same mistake. We were expecting to appear for the exam in October, but now we are asked to take admission in the final semester again,” said an affected student. Another student said some other colleges are allowing their students to fill the form for the October exams despite them defaulting on attendance.
The college principal, Rajpal Hande, said they are following the orders of the Mumbai University’s controller of examinations. Another college official said these students, after losing out in the court, had filed a mercy petition seeking permission to appear for the exams in October. The court had directed the matter to the university. “We sought clarity on the issue from the university. They replied this week and we conveyed it to the students,” the official said. He added, “The ground under which these students were debarred has not been fulfilled. Their term is not accepted as they did not complete the attendance requirement. The university’s letter says they will have to re-appear for that term, after taking fresh admission post Diwali, and then complete the term.”
The students are trying to approach several authorities even as the last date for filling form for the October exam is nearing.