LUCKNOW, MAY 30: The Uttar Pradesh government does not want students who secure less than 50 per cent at graduation-level to study further. Minister for Higher Education Om Prakash Singh has issued directives to all universities and colleges that no student getting less than 50 per cent should be admitted to post-graduate courses."For bringing a qualitative change in higher education, some harsh measures will have to be taken. A student who cannot secure 50 per cent marks at graduation level should not study further," said Singh. The minister has clearly warned principals that any violation of his orders would invite trouble for them. The minister has also decided to do away with B Ed courses because a number of students pass it while jobs for them are few. "This is an onslaught on the Fundamental Rights of the students and is an impractical directive. How can a government college deny admission to any candidate because he could not get 50 per cent marks? If they had increased the pass percentage from 33 to 50, it would have been better," said K N Sharma, a former IIT professor and a social scientist.There are 17 universities in the State (three are central) and 636 post-graduate colleges out of which 521 are private and the remaining aided by the government.Take Lucknow University, for instance. There are around 28,000 students in LU and a rough estimate reveals that nearly 15 per cent of the total students are doing post-graduate courses, i.e. 4,200 of them."Normally, half of the total students applying for post-graduation courses secure less than 50 per cent marks in their graduation exams. This brings the figure for LU to 2,100. Now, this lot of 2,100 students will not get admission during the next academic session because of the percentage bar," said a senior professor of the university.Unfazed, Om Prakash Singh claimed that reputed universities were losing their sheen because of an abundance of students who have nothing to do with merit in academics.
