The third-semester examinations for undergraduate students at Calcutta University will be delayed by one month as the syllabus remains incomplete, vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh said on Friday.

The examinations of the theory papers, which were scheduled to start on February 23, will now begin on March 24.

“The examination schedule had to be pushed back and revised. Now students will have adequate time to complete the syllabus and will be ready to write tests,” the vice chancellor said.

On Monday, students staged a protest on CU’s College Street campus, alleging that out of the 66 class days in the third semester, only 40 class days had been held.

“Since the examination schedule has been revised, I believe the required class
days in the third semester will be completed,” said VC Ghosh.

The heads of the CU affiliated colleges welcomed the decision to postpone the examinations.

Siuli Sarkar, principal of Lady Brabourne College, said the deferment will now allow colleges to complete the syllabus in a planned way.

“Earlier, colleges were somehow completing the syllabus so that the students could be prepared for the exam. That is not how you teach students. In subjects like physics, you cannot hurry through the syllabus. This weakens the base of a student,” Sarkar told Metro.

“The revised schedule will help teachers properly impart the lessons,” said Sarkar.

Jaydeep Sarangi, principal of New Alipore College, said: “Although we have completed the syllabus of the third semester, there are colleges where the syllabus has remained incomplete”.

“For such colleges, the revised schedule will be a big help,” he said.

According to the revised schedule, third-semester practical examinations start on March 6.

After the practical examinations are over, the theory examination will start.

The earlier schedule stated that the practical examinations would start after the completion of the theory papers.

The schedule of the theory and practical paper has been reversed in the new examination routine, so more time could be allotted to complete the syllabus for the theory papers, said a CU official.

Many teachers earlier said that since the four-year undergraduate programme, introduced in 2023 under the National Education Policy (NEP), is exhaustive, a student would struggle to write a semester examination if the syllabus remained incomplete.

VC Ghosh said they are drawing up an academic calendar, so the class days at the undergraduate level can be substantially increased, and the syllabus can be completed on time.