Stern stand

Jamshedpur, July 19: Kolhan University today issued showcause notices to two senior professors for “breach of confidentiality” and setting out-of-syllabus questions for zoology and botany in Part II examinations that began on July 8.

S.S. Razi, professor of zoology at Jamshedpur Co-operative College, and V. K. Singh, head of the university’s postgraduate department of botany, have been served the notices on the basis of a report of the examination board.

On July 13 — the day both zoology and botany examinations were held — some students complained that there was no choice of questions in zoology Paper IV, which was against the pattern. Examinees appearing for botany Paper IV at Karim City College claimed that about three to four questions were not in syllabus.

An emergency meeting of the examination board was convened on July 14 at the university headquarters in Chaibasa. The board submitted a report to the vice chancellor.

According to the report, Razi, who was the paper-setter for zoology (Paper IV), did not abide by the rules of writing the question manuscript himself. Instead, he got it written by somebody else, which is “breach of confidentiality”. The report further says that the paper-setter did not mention the marks break-up and the number of questions to be answered.

Singh has been taken to task for including questions that are not in the syllabus in botany Paper IV. The students had complained that there were questions from topics they were taught under Paper III.

Today, the varsity appointed the dean of science faculty, S.K. Sinha, to scrutinise the report of the examination board. Sinha will now hear out the two professors and submit another report by July 27.

“All reports and documents have been sent to the chancellor. This kind of incident should not have happened and professors should know about the rules and their responsibilities,” said a senior official of the university.

The two professors have been given seven days to submit a written reply and explain as to why no action should be taken against them.

When contacted, Razi refused to comment. “I do not want to make any comment. I had set the question paper based on last year’s pattern. I have nothing to say,” he said.

The university has decided to conduct a retest of botany Paper IV but not zoology.