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NT Bureau
Chennai, Feb 3:

        Given the strict rules and norms governing higher education at Madras University, a student of post graduation would require to put in lot of efforts to clear all the papers of the course within the scheduled time of two years.

        At present, only a small proportion of students who appeared for their PG exams were able to clear the papers on time. The lucky ones who passed out thanked their fortune, while not so lucky ones were left to lament on their fate. The rules of the varsity have made it difficult for students to take exams of certain departments like Biotechnology and Microbiology on time without hassles. On an average, the pass percentage of these departments was only 30 per cent. After the declaration of results by the varsity, an interaction with the PG students of these departments gave a vivid picture of what ailed the students of PG courses and the causes for the poor results of such departments.

        The University rules did not allow PG students who took the arrears exams to get their papers reevaluated or re-totalled, even if they felt the marks awarded to them were not on fair grounds, said Ajay Kumar, a PG student of Applied Microbiology at Madras University.

        He could not get his degree in two years for he was unable to clear the arrears (in one paper) after two attempts. But on both the occasions, he just missed the pass mark (50 out of 100) by a mere whisker.

        He said PG students having arrears were being discriminated against regular students. Though all students undergo the same process of tough evaluation, regular students have the advantage of reevaluation of their papers which was denied to those having to clear backlog papers.

        A regular student who got a score much lower than an arrears student was able to clear that subject after reevaluation whereas the latter denied of such a facility had to appear for the exam again, he lamented.

        Umpteen number to students were facing a bleak future due this rule of not extending reevaluation process to arrears examinees, Senthil informed, who is yet to clear a paper in Biotechnology. Most of the students who could not clear all the papers, take an extra year or two to acquire the PG degree which affect their career in many ways. 'It also dashes the aspirations of our parents who are expecting us to come good in all papers on time,' he said.

        Senthil was unable to go abroad for higher studies, though he got an assured seat over there, as he could not get through through his arrears. The fields of Microbiology and Biotechnology did not hold much promise in India, contrary to be hype in the media, and hence the students had to go abroad for a prospective career, said K K Tripathy, advisor, Department of Biotechnology, Union Government, at a recent function in Chennai.

        According to well placed sources in Madras University, the lower pass percentage in PG courses was part of efforts to maintain the standards of the institution at the higher education level. But instead of enhancing the standards of the University, maintaining a low pass percentage had jeopardised the future of many students, claimed sources in Applied Microbiology department of Madras University.