Saturday 28 June 2014

How long does it take for HNB Garhwal University to declare results?

Just how much time does a university need to declare end of semester examination results? Three to four weeks after the last paper is what University of Delhi takes, with most reputed ones not taking much longer. For HNB Garhwal University (HNBGU), however, even four months are not adequate for the purpose.

A few weeks ago, several students pursuing undergraduate professional courses from Dehra Dun based private institutes affiliated to HNBGU, who had qualified entrance tests for admission to postgraduate courses in universities outside Uttarakhand and had to register for counselling thereof, had to make a couple of trips to university’s office in Srinagar to obtain their fifth semester mark sheets as results of their examinations held in January had not been declared till the end of May!

The students got their mark sheets, of course, but after making the unnecessary extra effort, besides suffering needless anxiety and losing valuable time and money in the process. They were lucky that their results had been uploaded on the university computer and hence were not asked to shell out an extra thousand rupees as fees for “provisional” mark sheet.  What would have happened if their answer booklets had not been evaluated is anybody’s guess.

Some running around from “pillar to post” had to be done and red tape faced within the university’s office in Srinagar for the purpose. That none of the dealing persons asked that their “palms be greased” was the saving grace.

These students are now left wondering whether HNBGU will be able to declare the results of their sixth semester examinations held in the middle of June and issue the final mark sheets before the cut-off dates prescribed by the universities they are joining.

HNBGU has been notorious for delays and irregularities right from the time it came into existence in 1973 and the situation seems to be much the same even though it was upgraded to a central university in 2009, barring the financial gains that its employees have made on account of change of their pay scales from state to central government.

The situation is worse for students of affiliated self-financing private institutes offering professional courses like B.B.A., B.C.A., B. Sc. (IT), M.B.A., M.C.A., M. Sc. (IT), etc. Semester end examinations that are supposed to be conducted in December and May are invariably delayed by at least a month.

The university then takes its own sweet time and students usually receive their mark sheets and admit cards together just before the commencement of the next semester exams. Moreover, for some reason best known to HNBGU authorities, results of these professional courses are not uploaded and made available on the university website, even as the ones for other courses are.

The position is even more appalling in the case of B.Ed.  Three years ago, HNBGU declared a “zero year” for this programme to bring it back on track as sessions were running more than a year behind schedule. In spite of this, and the fact that entrance tests for the course are usually conducted on time, the session begins not before October and examinations are held in August or September the following year, while the results are declared still later. The scenario for other professional courses run by the university is pretty much the same.

It is interesting to note that Government of India had recognised that there was no uniformity in the academic schedule followed by the various varsities and colleges which often acted as a hurdle for students taking a transfer from one university to another often leading to missed opportunities and appointed an expert committee in 2006 to look into the feasibility of establishing a uniform academic calendar.
The report of this committee was accepted and the Union HRD Ministry had in June 2007 asked all UGC recognised universities - whether central, state or a deemed; as well as their affiliated colleges - to follow a uniform academic calendar with immediate effect.
As per this directive classes for first year students must commence in the first week of August, while for all others by the third week of July in every university or college. Examinations are to be held on time and results for all courses to be declared by not later than the last week of June.
Why is HNBGU not following such clear government directives? Who in the university is responsible for implementation of these directives? Who is to be blamed  if its students lose out on better prospects for higher studies in universities outside the state and on job opportunities on account of such delays on the part of the university for no fault of theirs? It is time HNBGU stopped playing with the careers of its students.

UGC and HRD Ministry, on their part, need to continuously monitor the functioning of all the universities across the country to ensure that their guidelines are strictly adhered to as also take strict action against the erring ones. They also need to issue clear instructions to universities to be flexible regarding the cut-off dates in genuine cases so that students are not deprived of their legitimate rights for mistakes committed by the varsity they were unfortunately enrolled with. The task is monumental, but not impossible.


HNBGU final semester candidates, in the meanwhile, are looking skyward for timely declaration of their results.


(Published in Garhwal Post on 27th June 2014)