Lucknow: 282 AKTU students seek re-evaluation, lose marks & flunk

LUCKNOW: Change in the rules regarding re-evaluation of answer sheets has proved costly to over 1,500 students of APJ Kalam Technical University (AKTU). Though they challenged the assessment hoping it will improve their performance, they ended up losing marks in the process. In fact, marks of 282 of the 1,500 students dropped below the pass percentage and they were declared failed in the semester.
AKTU had recently amended its examination scrutiny process called ‘challenge evaluation’ in which if a student is not satisfied with the marks allotted to him/her in the examinations, he/she could apply for re-checking of answer copies by another faculty.
Under the earlier system, there was no provision of deduction of marks. However, the change in rules allowed marks to be deducted if it was found that more marks were allotted than the answer actually deserved. A total 6,500 students of different courses had applied for ‘challenge evaluation’ for their December semester. The result was declared on Saturday.
It showed that marks of 1,545 students dropped from what they had scored earlier. As many as 282 were those who had passed earlier, but have now been declared failed. Marks of around 233 students did not change. However, marks of 4,739 students increased. Of them, 2,493 were those who had earlier failed but have now been declared passed. “The rules were amended to ensure quality,” said university spokesperson Ashish Mishra.
However, when asked whether action will be taken against the teachers who evaluated copies in the first place, he said that every teacher has its own criterion of evaluation and awarding marks.
A BTech student Ankit Kumar, who scored poorly, said, “The university should roll back this amendment as it’s not student-friendly.”