Himachal Pradesh University: Low first-year pass percentage spark protests against online evaluation system

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Haryana: Low pass percentage of BSc and Bcom first-year exams in colleges affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University has sparked a row over the varsity's online evaluation system. The first-year pass percentage in BSc was recorded at 31 while that in BCom was 58. Students' unions on Friday staged protests against the online evaluation system at the varsity campus and several other colleges. They alleged that a snag in the system had resulted in the low pass percentage. Over 16,500 students had appeared for the examinations in May-June. The Himachal Pradesh University unit of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) staged a 'dharna' to protest against the "inaccuracies". 

They alleged that in some colleges, 80 per cent of the examinees did not pass their exams. Enterprise Resource Planning -- the online system responsible for the evaluation process -- has been outsourced to a private company on a contract and there is no supervision by regular staff members, said Harish, president of the SFI's Himachal Pradesh University unit.

The students are going through acute mental stress due to the poor results, he said. Harish also warned that if the system was not set right and the discrepancies not removed, the SFI would launch a state-wide agitation. The ERP system should be thrown out and if no positive action is taken, the SFI will gherao the university administration, he said. Delegations from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) also apprised the pro vice-chancellor about the snags and demanded revaluation of answer sheets without charging any additional fee. 

NSUI General Secretary Yasin Bhatt said it had become routine for results to be declared at the last moment. Results of nearly 50 per cent students are withheld and it does not augur well for the university's prestige. The university is encouraging a contract system and is fully responsible for the faulty evaluation. If the discrepancies are not resolved, the NSUI will launch an agitation, he said. An association of college teachers also backed students' claims about the evaluation process. 

"Teachers were opposed to online evaluation but the university authorities were adamant and went ahead with it despite the problems and without training the teachers. A majority of the teachers had not involved themselves in the online evaluation process," said Himachal Pradesh Government College Teachers' Association General Secretary RL Sharma. The results have been delayed by over two months and now the pass percentage is under the scanner, he said. Secrecy is another issue, he said. 

Sharma added that earlier, centres were set up and a two-tier spot evaluation done. The university's Controller of Examinations JS Negi said the students in some colleges which recorded low scores were agitated. Vice-Chancellor SP Bansal, when conacted, said a five-member fact finding committee had been constituted to look into the matter. Sources in the varsity later said random evaluation of examination papers from all affiliated colleges would be done to re-evaluate and verify the results.