Mumbai: Over 3.5 lakh ATKT students in Maharashtra are in a state of unrest over the decision of cancellation of final year exams. ATKT students claim they cannot be given an average of aggregate marks of previous semesters because they have failed in some subjects and should be given a chance to clear backlog exams. In response to this unrest, on Tuesday, state higher and technical education minister Uday Samant tweeted via a video saying, "Students need not worry as a decision regarding their exams will be taken soon."
Final year ATKT (Allowed to keep terms) students of various higher education programmes stormed Twitter and Facebook claiming they cannot be given average marks based on their previous semester scores.
Vishal Mahajan, a final year engineering student, said, "I have failed in two subjects in my last semester. If I am graded based on my marks of those subjects then my final score will be lower."
Students claimed they should be given a chance to clear backlog exams. Chandni Upadhay, a final year medical student, said, "I have one backlog exam as I could not appear for my paper because of health issues. Also, I have two ATKT pending exams as I did not pass in two subjects of previous semesters. My final grades will be very low if my average is calculated because my total marks are low. I want a chance to appear for my ATKT and backlog exams to improve my scores."
Out of 8 lakh final year students, around 3.5 lakh students have ATKT and backlog exams, claimed Siddharth Ingle, founder president of the Maharashtra Students Union (MASU). Ingle said, "The state should give clear guidelines to relieve ATKT students. Students need to know if they are being graded then how are they going to calculate the marks of subjects which they have not cleared. Also, if the state plans on giving a chance to ATKT students to appear for exams then, how are they going to conduct it."
