After poor results trigger protests, Tripura University decides to promote all UG students till 5th semester

The students must still complete at least 50 per cent of the credits from major papers in the first five semesters to qualify for the sixth semester examination. Previously, students were required to secure at least 50 per cent of total credits in a semester to be promoted. Those who did not meet this requirement had to repeat the entire semester, although pass marks from previous courses or papers would remain credited.

Higher Education Director Animesh Debbarma said, “Around 8,000 students who were not allowed to move to the second semester will benefit from the decision. The NEP has been adopted as it has more flexibility and is more student-oriented. The students will be promoted to the next semester, but they need to repeat those subjects and pass exams in them to get their certificates.”

The amendments, announced in a notification issued by Registrar Dr Deepak Sharma on Monday, were hailed by the BJP-led government and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad but drew flak from other student organisations.

The announcement followed protests from students who faced high failure rates in recent semester examinations. Last month protests took place at the busy Battle Tri-junction area, which connects Agartala with Sepahijala, Gomati and South Tripura districts, with students demanding promotions for all students from the first semester onward. They cited issues such as “imposition of unfamiliar subjects”, inadequate books and other resources, and faculty shortages.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who holds the education portfolio, said that Maharaja Bir Bikram University, the only other university in the Northeast state, would also take a similar decision.

“I welcome this decision of the two Universities and hope it will definitely boost up the students’ enthusiasm for pursuing Higher Education,” he wrote on social media on Tuesday.

NEP and concerns over quality

However, the student bodies associated with Opposition parties blamed the current situation on the NEP and its implementation allegedly without ensuring necessary infrastructure.

Amir Hussein, a leader of the Congress student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI), told indianexpress.com, “Successive efforts are being taken to destroy the nation’s education system during the ‘double-engine’ government’s tenure. We have been opposing the NEP since its inception. This policy undermines the academic system in the country.”

Hussein said that by deciding to promote everyone irrespective of their exam performance, the government had admitted its failure.

“Students protested last month after they failed in the exams. We had met the higher education director and demanded answers as to why nearly 60 per cent of students who appear in the examinations had failed and were forced to sit on the streets,” he said. “The NSUI feels that if this education policy continues, the academic system of the country will crumble soon and regress towards the medieval age.”

Hussein alleged that schemes which had led to massive failure in school examinations were being adopted to lure students into the Government’s “regressive Sanghi ideologies”.

Sandeepan Deb, state secretary of the CPM’s Students Federation of India, said, “The CM had made big claims about the NEP… But just as we had said, students were not given syllabuses for a long time and faculty members were not available. The most shameful thing was that results were announced six months after the first semester…”

However, Sanjit Saha, state secretary of the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said the decision would help to reduce the dropout rate and make students more interested in their studies.