Calcutta University has deferred its undergraduate sixth-semester theory exams by six days after a section of students complained that adequate classes had not been held because of disruptions caused by the elections.
For several weeks before and after the polls, on campus classes were suspended in many CU-affiliated colleges to accommodate central forces deployed on election duty.
The exams, originally scheduled to begin on June 9, will now start on June 15.
The university’s controller of examinations, Jayanta Sinha, uploaded the revised schedule on the university website on Friday evening.
Vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh said a section of students had complained about inadequate classroom teaching.
“We accepted the plea, considering that the colleges had to suspend classes, inconveniencing students. So the dates of the sixth-semester exams have been rescheduled,” Ghosh said.
This newspaper had reported on March 17 that around 2,500 companies of central forces — the highest in recent memory — had been deployed in Bengal for each of the two polling phases, on April 23 and April 29.
A CU official said the heads of several colleges had informed the university that the forces had taken possession of entire campuses.
The forces vacated the colleges a few days after May 4, following the declaration of the election results.
In March, CU had asked affiliated colleges where central forces had already moved in to continue classes online so that the syllabus could be completed on time.
“The students’ plea suggests that online classes were either not held regularly or were insufficient, leaving parts of the syllabus incomplete,” a CU official said.
A section of BA, BSc and BCom students will exit the programme after writing their sixth-semester exams to pursue other courses.
The four-year undergraduate programme introduced in 2023 under the National Education Policy (NEP) allows students to exit after the third year.
The first batch of students is scheduled to exit in July.
“Our boards of studies were in favour of deferring the exams by a few days. The rescheduled exams have to be completed at the earliest so that students who want to exit can enrol on time in two-year postgraduate programmes,” VC Ghosh said.
In April, CU had also deferred its undergraduate first-semester theory exams after several colleges reported that their campuses had been requisitioned to accommodate central security forces.
Ghosh said on Saturday that the university would publish an academic calendar next week specifying, at the start of the academic session, when semester exams would be held.
“Under the existing practice, the exam schedule is announced after classes end in a semester. The academic calendar will announce the exam schedule at the start of the session. This will help examinees plan and prepare better,” he said.