Calcutta University (CU) is set to replace the annual Part I and II exams in MA and M.Com courses with biannual semester tests.

“We want to introduce the semester tests in all MA and M.Com courses at the earliest, preferably from the next academic session, in compliance with a directive from the University Grants Commission,” said a senior CU official.

Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das will meet members of the university’s arts and commerce faculties soon to discuss the measures to be taken to implement the semester system.

He, however, hinted at the possibility of introducing the semester tests in MA and M.Com courses in phases. “Students can no doubt be better assessed in the semester system than through the annual test. But it will be difficult to switch to the new system in all courses simultaneously because we do not have enough teachers,” Das added.

“The departments that will be left out of the new system for the time being will be asked to divide the syllabi into modules to ensure better teaching and learning.”

Following the UGC directive, Jadavpur University has long adopted the semester tests in all its postgraduate courses. But paucity of teachers forced CU to implement it in only M.Sc and M.Tech courses.

According to UGC guidelines, the teacher (full-time)-student ratio in the postgraduate level should be between 1:12 and 1:15. But most departments in CU’s arts and commerce faculties fail to meet the standard.

For instance, there are only two full-time teachers for more than 140 students in the two-year postgraduate journalism course.