Karnataka students protest over UUCMS glitches, submit memorandum

Hundreds of students staged a protest across the state, including Bengaluru, on Friday, December 9 demanding that the results of the first batch under the National Education Policy (NEP) be released.

The All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) also demanded release of scholarship funds for graduate students, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.  While the first batch of NEP students have already begun their second year, they are yet to receive their results, which has largely been attributed to the shift to the new Unified University and College Management System (UUCMS), as per the TNIE report.

Issues with the portal
Although the government has promised that UUCMS will streamline issues related to universities and colleges, students protested stating that the issues were caused and in fact, further agitated by the portal. “Due to a change in both correction patterns and syllabus, the issuance of results is being delayed. Even logging into the portal is almost impossible as there are server issues, so students haven’t been able to access their results. The results also haven’t been issued by the government and aided colleges, who are using UUCMS,” said Apoorva, AIDSO Bengaluru District Convenor.

She also said issues have been reported by prospective students who wanted to apply to the colleges as they are facing difficulties while logging in. This has posed a significant problem for second-year students as well, as the results are needed to apply for scholarships for the next academic year, which has already started, TNIE reported.

Students sought rectification
AIDSO Bengaluru District President Abhaya Diwakar said the government is ignoring the problems being faced by graduate students. “The results must be announced with no further delay. The issue is creating anxiety among the students. Thousands of students from poor families depend on scholarships to fund their higher education. If no scholarship is available, it is difficult for most of them to complete their higher education,” she said.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has sought rectification of several issues, both with the UUCMS as well as the newly introduced Karnataka Learning Management System (KLMS). Issues included the release of poor-quality study materials available through KLMS and a drop in enrollment due to UUCMS issues. The forum submitted a memorandum to Karnataka State Higher Education Council VC Prof B Thimmegowda and Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE) Commissioner Pradeep in this regard.