Mumbai: Large number of students struggled through their commute to reach their examination centres on Tuesday due to the bus strike. Students were appearing for the 17 undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) winter semester examinations of the Mumbai University (MU). These students were firstly inconvenienced and were forced to pay exorbitant fares to auto rickshaw drivers but fortunately university asked the colleges to give them extra time to complete the examinations.
Students residing in western suburbs faced the repercussions of no buses for commute as they had to bend to the high demand of auto rickshaw drivers. Manali Desai, a student residing at Andheri said, “I always take a bus to my college, which is at Vile Parle. I was forced to pay Rs 150 for just a 20 minute distance due to this strike. I could not afford to reach late for my examination, even though it was cumbersome trying to convince the auto rickshaw drivers.”
Another student Kubal Shah, a student of Vile Parle, said, “I had to pay Rs 100 just to reach the railway station which is only 15 minutes away from my residence. I was scared since I reached my centre 20 minutes after the examinations began.”
Mumbai University (MU) conducted 17 examinations on Tuesday. These include Master of Science (MSc), Commerce (MCom), Arts (MA), Law, Bachelor of Education (B Ed) B Ed (Special Education), Master of Education (M Ed), M Ed (Special Education), Bachelor of Philosophy and Education (BP Ed) and Master of Philosophy and Education (MP Ed).
These examinations were conducted in two phases from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. The university officials had informed all college principals and examination supervisors to allow students to appear for the examination, if they reached late. Vinod Malale, officer managing examination of MU said, “We have not received any report of students missing the examination. All students were allowed to appear for the examination if they reached late. Also we had informed supervisors to give extra time to students who reach late.”
College authorities claimed though the bus strike spread panic among the students, nobody missed the examination. Marie Fernandes, Principal of St Andrew’s College, said, “We allowed all students to appear for the examination. But we witnessed a dip in the number of students from Class 12, who are appearing for their prelims. This bus strike seems to have affected the students, as they get nervous and panic during examinations.”
