A host of private engineering colleges have all but called for cheating to be allowed after a dip in the success rate of their students in the last semester examinations.

The nearly 100 per cent success rate of 2008 declined to 96 per cent this year, prompting the private engineering colleges to move the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) for “leniency” in the examination system.

“They have not directly asked for the freedom to cheat for their students, but such an intention becomes clear when colleges ask for leniency in examinations. There have been no complaints from students about question papers being tough this year. We did not change our evaluation method either. The only change we introduced this year was stricter invigilation,” said a senior official of the WBUT.

Acting on complaints about a large number of colleges allegedly encouraging unfair practices, the WBUT — which controls around 140 engineering and management colleges across the state — had deputed invigilators to every exam centre this time. Many colleges did not like the move.

“The university had no business sending invigilators on all examination days,” complained an official of a private engineering college on the eastern fringes of the city.

According to Sabyasachi Sengupta, the vice-chancellor of the WBUT, it was a question of quality control. “The university’s primary aim is to produce efficient engineers. We will continue to take all possible measures to ensure that each college affiliated to the university offers quality education.”

The quality-control catalyst was an IT major that expressed its unwillingness to recruit graduates from WBUT-affiliated colleges because they were allegedly not up to the mark.

Sources in the WBUT said some colleges were allowing students to adopt unfair means to score high in examinations. They would then benefit from lucrative job offers and the colleges would have more students queueing up for admission the next year.

“The colleges have not realised that their pursuit of short-term gains has started backfiring. Representatives of some companies have met senior government officials and complained about the poor skills of recruits from the WBUT-affiliated institutes,” said an official of the state higher education department.

The university authorities were also alerted by the mechanics marksheet. “The subject is also taught in Besu and JU, with the success rate in the first year often as low as 80 per cent. With 100 per cent of students in the private colleges passing in mechanics we realised there was something wrong,” said a source.

With the new invigilation system in place, 1,800 out of a total of 30,000 students studying in the first year have failed in mechanics. Last year, only 18 out 30,000 students had failed in the subject.

Sources in the colleges said the university-appointed invigilators stayed put in every examination hall from start to finish while in previous years they would visit a few centres and stay for a short while.