Anna University protests: AU students irked after VC refuses to change 2017 regulations

Engineering students from Anna University on Monday expressed disappointment after MK Surappa, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the varsity said that the 2017 regulations cannot be repealed. The regulation prevents them from taking a failed exam in the subsequent semester itself and allows them only to retake it a year after.

On Friday, hundreds of students from the varsity and affiliated colleges across the State organised the first protest. Responding to the strike, Surappa had promised to deliver a decision by January 28. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said that the university did not have the authority to tear down the regulations as these were formulated by the University Grants Commission.

Read More: Why Anna University students are protesting for a new arrear system

"My job is to attend genuine problems of students. Not make changes that will lower the quality of education," he said adding that these complaints come only from colleges that do not perform well. "The good colleges do not have complaints with the regulations. The complaints have come from colleges that are not up to the mark," he said.

Students have placed two demands at the forefront: they want the varsity to allow them to take up arrear exam in the subsequent semester itself and abolish the credit-based arrear system which will limit the number of arrear exams they can take to two or three. Even as the practice of allowing students to write arrear exams in the subsequent semester followed in other varsities like the University of Madras, officials from Anna University said a credit-based arrear system will help students fare better in academics, said J Kumar, the registrar of the varsity. "Students argue that the current system forces them to waste a whole year before seeking employment or applying for higher education if they fail in the last semester," he added.