Mumbai: The University of Mumbai’s (MU) Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) on Tuesday has come under criticism for its disorganised handling of the first-semester examinations for M.A., M.Com., and M.Sc. courses, held on Tuesday.
While the university described the conduct of the examinations as “smooth” in both the morning and afternoon sessions, students blamed the centre, formerly known as Institute of Distance and Online Learning (IDOL), of last-minute mismanagements, including in issuing hall tickets and in seating arrangements at the centres.
A total of 5,081 students were set to appear for the exams, but thousands of them faced last-minute chaos due to delays in the issuance of hall tickets and seating arrangements.
According to the university, the delay was attributed to 683 students failing to submit their academic documents during the admission process. The university claimed it had repeatedly reminded students to complete the required documentation, yet this failure created challenges in verifying their eligibility and preparing hall tickets.
Students, however, rejected MU’s claims. “I had submitted all the documents online in October last year and had made the payment as well. But only in late November, I got to know that my admission process was incomplete because of some glitch in their system. After I physically visited the university and submitted the documents, my admission was finalised,” a Masters student told the FPJ requesting anonymity.
For Tuesday’s exams, students also claimed that certain centres got last minute information about them conducting the exams, which led to delays in starting the exams.
“My centre was NES Ratnam College of Arts, Science, and Commerce. But it seemed like the centre itself did not know till today morning that it was a centre. There were no proper seating arrangements, no proper roll calls, and the question paper also arrived after 35-40 minutes of the scheduled starting time,” another student told the FPJ, adding that the centre allowed grace time to complete the exams.
In a move to avoid widespread disruption, the university issued hall tickets late on Monday evening and night, a mere few hours before the exams were scheduled to commence. Still, hundreds of students complained that their hall ticket was not issued until the morning of the exams, which they had to collect from the examination centre or IDOL office.
The lack of timely communication and preparedness, students said, left them anxious and some even considered dropping out. “This kind of last-minute rush not only creates unnecessary anxiety but also raises questions about the university’s commitment to its students. In our social media groups, certain students were also talking about skipping the exams and appearing for reexamination. But then the university would have charged for that as well,” another student said.
Later on Tuesday evening a Yuva Sena delegation met Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ravindra Kulkarni, where they were assured of a solution. “After we highlighted many problems faced by students, an assurance was given to soon organise a joint meeting with the officials of the University’s CDOE and the Examination Department,” said Yuva Sena’s Pradeep Sawant.
