The University of Calcutta has decided to discontinue the practice of conducting home centre examinations for postgraduate courses at affiliated colleges. This decision was taken during a meeting on Wednesday attended by the vice-chancellor, registrar, controller of examinations, and other members of the CU syndicate.
From now on, postgraduate students from affiliated colleges will be required to appear for their exams at designated away centres. The move comes in response to allegations of widespread malpractice during previous examinations. Last year, the Calcutta University Teachers' Association had raised concerns with the vice-chancellor about significant irregularities observed during PG exams at college venues.
CU Vice-Chancellor Santa Datta stated that students from both the colleges and the university would take their exams at a common facility on the university campus. If the number of candidates exceeds capacity, alternative colleges will be used as exam centres. "We will not allow postgraduate students to write exams at their respective colleges to eliminate malpractice complaints," Datta said.
Registrar Debasis Das confirmed that the new system would take effect from the semester exams starting on April 9. University students, who previously took tests in their own departments, will now use common facilities on campus. Detailed guidelines will be published on the university's website on Friday.
To ensure fairness, the university also plans to rotate invigilators. Last year, the CU Teachers' Association reported instances of mass copying, particularly in science subjects, where answer scripts appeared identical.
Om Prakash Mishra, a syndicate member and Jadavpur University professor, expressed dissent over the decision, suggesting that discussions with college authorities should have been held beforehand. Despite this, Registrar Das stated that the decision received overwhelming support.
Regarding the evaluation of answer scripts by state government-approved contractual teachers, Das said that the matter has been left to the postgraduate board of studies to decide.
