College Street: Calcutta University is likely to bar 30-odd students of Seth Anandaram Jaipuria College from taking the first-ever BCom semester exams for having less than 60 per cent attendance.

The Sovabazar institute, popularly known as Jaipuria college, had allowed the students of its evening section to fill up the Calcutta University's forms for appearing in the first-ever semester tests despite having attendance between 50 and 59 per cent.

"The attendance rules of Calcutta University are very clear. Students having less than 60 per cent attendance will not be permitted to take the semester exams," Dipak Kar, the university's pro vice-chancellor, academic affairs, told Metro today.

Asked if the university would cancel the applications of the students, Kar said the authorities would be in a position to speak on that going through the forms.

Of the 655 BCom students of the morning, day and evening sections, 134 have less than 60 per cent attendance.

Many of these students had demanded they be allowed to take the test. The college finally allowed 30 students to fill up the forms.

Asok Mukhopadhyay, the principal of the three units, said he was aware of the university rules that specify students with less than 60 per cent attendance won't be allowed to take the exams.

"The decision to grant permission to the students to fill up the forms was not taken on the basis of any unilateral decision," Mukhopadhyay said.

Colleges affiliated to Calcutta University are not empowered to allow a student with inadequate attendance to fill up examination forms.

But college heads have the discretion to increase the attendance marginally in exceptional cases, a university official said.

For example, the principal can increase the attendance if a student is found to be short of one or two classes than the stipulated 60 per cent for organising or attending an event of the college or had to be absent for participating in an educational excursion.

The campus had been on the boil over the attendance issue for some time. Four teachers, including the heads of the commerce departments of the three sections, had recently expressed their desire to quit the posts to protest the lowering of the attendance cut-off from 60 to 50 per cent for the 30-odd students of the evening section.

Colleges can allow students with a 60 per cent attendance to take exams after paying a fine and giving a valid explanation for their absence, along with documents like medical certificates.