More than 1.5 lakh students due to appear in various undergraduate examinations of Calcutta University are caught in the confusion over panchayat elections in Bengal, each day adding to the uncertainty over their already revised test schedule.

The university has already postponed its BA, BSc and BCom Part-I (honours and general) and Part-II (general) exams because of the elections and another change in dates would not only mess up the academic calendar but also affect career plans.

Onkar Sadhan Adhikari, controller of examinations at CU, said on Wednesday that the revised schedule “remains unchanged as of now”, though that would depend on how quickly doubts about the panchayat poll schedule are removed.

Since security forces requisitioned for the elections will stay in college buildings, there is little CU can do other than adjust its dates in accordance with the election schedule.

“We have already scheduled some of our major undergraduate exams later than usual because of the rural polls. It will be difficult for us to maintain the academic calendar if the exams have to be postponed further,” vice-chancellor Suranjan Das said.

Lok Sabha elections are due next year and a delayed transition to the next academic calendar will double the challenges for the university, officials said.

“Another postponement will reduce the number of classes in our second year, in which case we will have to study a part of the syllabus on our own,” said a BA Part-I examinee from Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College.

The BA and BSc Part-I honours exams were to be held from July 9 but the university was forced to postpone the start to August 2 after the government announced that rural polls would be held between July 2 and 9.

In the event of another postponement, the worst sufferers would be students appearing for the BA and BSc Part-II general exams, an official said.

The BA and BSc Part-II general examinations are to be held from July 18, exactly a month behind schedule. “It is important to hold the Part-II exams on time every year to give the batch of students moving to the third year enough time to complete their Part-III syllabus. There is no leeway for the university in terms of holding the Part-III exams within mid-May,” the official said.

Post-graduate programmes in many reputable institutes in India and abroad start between August and September, which explains the importance of strictly following the Part-III schedule of exams within mid-May and results before August.