The introduction of the semester system for postgraduate courses in Patna University has led to a spurt in class attendance.

The semester system — followed by almost all premier institutions in India like Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University and Presidency University — was introduced at Patna University in the 2012-13 academic year. Since then, the number of students attending classes at Darbhanga House, where the postgraduate classes of the university are held, has increased, said teachers.

Senior history teacher Daisy Narain told The Telegraph: “In the yearly system, students used to have less than 60 per cent attendance. But now, it has gone up to 85 per cent.”

There are two immediate reasons for it. First, students need 75 per cent attendance to take their semester exams, scheduled every six months. Also, five marks in every paper are awarded based on the attendance. (See graphic)

Besides this, the intensity of studies during semesters is more than in the yearly system, claim teachers and students.

In Patna University, each semester is around six months long but the effective number of classes is 65; in other words, around a little more than two months. In each semester, students have to study four courses.

Besides preparing for the end-semester exam, they also have to take five unit tests for each paper in this duration. Therefore, a total of 20 unit tests for the four papers. This count in their final marks.

U.K. Sinha, dean, faculty of science, who teaches genetics to botany students, said: “I ask my students to read Cytogenetics by P.K. Gupta.” A standard text, it runs to more than 400 pages, and is full of diagrams and concepts that students have to master in the stipulated time period.

English students have to read Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The former is an 18th century novel, nearly 800 pages long in most editions; the latter a collection of verse tales in 14th century English that reads less like the modern language than French.

These are only the primary texts. Besides this, there are interpretations and scholarly essays on these that one must consult before answering questions in an exam.

Naturally, there is no time for procrastination. Students must immerse themselves in academics if they want to do well.

“It’s not like we have a whole year to read a 800-page book, and we have more than one such book to read in a semester. At the most, we can give a fortnight to each text before we move on to the next or take an exam,” said a student, who did not want to be named.

The concentration is already showing its effects.

History teacher Narain said: “Students are studying seriously. It is evident from the questions they ask in class. For instance, my students in this batch have asked me to discuss the survival and continuity of the Harappan civilisation with them. It is a common question in civil service exams. But till a few years back, we did not discuss these topics with our postgraduate students.”

Following their seniors, undergraduate students, too, have started attending their classes more frequently.

Science dean Sinha said: “Teachers at undergraduate colleges have informed me that there has been an increase in attendance of students, possibly because of the union elections.”

Students must have at least 75 per cent attendance to contest the Patna University Students’ Union (Pusu) elections, held according to Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. Elections to the union were held for the first time in 28 years in December 2012.

Not only undergraduate students, their seniors at Darbhanga House, too, have realised the importance of attendance to be a part of campus democracy.

Vidyanand Vidhaata, a postgraduate history student who contested for the Pusu president’s post, said: “Many potential candidates had to drop out because they did not have sufficient attendance. I could contest because I had attended nearly 80 per cent classes in the first year.”

Be it studies or politics, students of Patna University spend more time in classes these days than on the greens outside.