MU exam dates: Teachers fear losing summer of 2019
Teachers will have to supervise, evaluate papers in May
MUMBAI: Principals and teachers from colleges in the city are unhappy as they stand to lose their summer break, with the University of Mumbai (MU) declaring that first-year exams will start on April 30. With the exams expected to stretch into May, they will have to be on supervision and assessment duties during the vacations.
“All the first-year exams are scheduled to begin on April 30. It means the assessments will only begin in the second week of May. Year-after-year, teachers are expected to work without a break. It is extremely unfair,” said Marie Fernandes, principal, St Andrews College, Bandra, adding that teachers will be “overworked” if the supervision and assessment stretches beyond May.
The university is yet to announce the results of thirdyear students for their previous semester – exams held in November 2018 – as teachers have not finished the assessment through the on-screen marking system. The university adopted the on-screen marking system in 2017, following which the assessment process witnessed several delays, resulting in chaos among students.
While results of Bachelor of Commerce (Bcom) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) students have been declared, students from unaided sections, including Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Bachelors in Management Studies (BMS), are still awaiting their results.
Officials from the university said all pending results will be announced soon.
“Work on announcement of results for the 2018 winter exams is underway. The full schedule of summer 2019 examinations will be shared with colleges soon,” said a Board of Examination
WINTER EXAMS 2017
The University of Mumbai (MU) introduces On-screen Marking (OSM) system in April 2017 to assess answer-booklets. The assessments get delayed for months, forcing teachers to work during Diwali break
Results are declared by October 2017, postponing the next semester exams to Christmas holidays SUMMER EXAMS 2018
Teachers have a task cut out before them with assessment of
(BOE) official, who did not wish to be named.
Meanwhile, this is the last semester that first- and secondyear exams will be conducted by the university. The university has decided to appoint a committee, headed by pro-vice chancellor Ravindra Kulkarni, to facilitate the transition from the current format, in which the university sets up common question papers and decides on exam schedules, while colleges look after the assessment and results, to a completely new process that will be driven by colleges. The winter exam booklets pending. MU delays the summer exam by a few weeks
Exams commence in April and conclude in mid-june
WINTER EXAMS 2018
After receiving flak from colleges, MU ensures that exams are scheduled only before and after Diwali vacations, so teachers get their break
But some teachers compelled to work during Diwali break to complete final-year exams’ evaluations.
committee, which will also include deans of all four faculties, will form guidelines related to paper-setting, scrutiny of question papers, and scheduling of exams.
Principals, however, feel the issue of supervision and assessment duties eating into the summer break could have been avoided had the colleges conducted the first- and second-year exams from this semester itself. “We were hoping to conduct the exams by ourselves [this semester itself], but the university had a different plan,” said Fernandes.