Varsity goof-up costs students a term

The students had complained that the notifications were not received by the college at the time the university claims to have issued them. Also, no absorption scheme (replacing new subject titles for comparable subjects in the old course) was worked out.

In the absence of the scheme, the students were a confused lot. To add to their confusion was the release of a timetable for the Winter 1997 examination which included the old course papers as well.

In an ad hoc decision, third-year students of Computer Science stream were asked to write the paper `Algorithms and Data Structure’ of the new course in place of `Electro-Magnetic Field-II’ in the old one. Interestingly, the students had already cleared this paper when it was called `Discrete Data Structures.’

Now, the university has obviously realised the goof-up. A notification issued on November 15 gives the absorption scheme for third and fourth year students of computer technology. In this, the replacement for Discrete Data Structures (old) is Algorithms and Data Structures (new) and not Electro-Magnetic Fields-II as instructed earlier.

The notification also informs the third year old course students that the scheme will be operative for them till the Summer 1998 examination.

But one crucial aspect is missing. What happens to the Winter 1997 examination which has gone by, leaving the students in confusion? What about the students who may have written a new course paper in lieu of a wrong one in the old course?

Nagpur University officials are shy of answering these questions. The students claim that the officials are shifting the blame from one to the other while admitting that the goof-up has caused the loss of a term to the students. In any case, the loss can never be made good.