After a period of exemption of two years, JNTU (Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University) Hyderabad has now decided to implement its credit-based detention rule once again. But this has not gone down well with the students, who claim they were not informed about this before. And they are planning a protest regarding the issue on October 10.
What is credit-based detention?
As explained by T Mukund Madhav, a fourth-year student at JNTUH, credit-based detention refers to a rule which requires the students to secure a minimum number of credits for being promoted to the next year. If a student fails to acquire this required number of credits, she/he has to repeat the year and take a re-admission for it.
"This rule was in place before 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university had provided a relaxation of two years," said Shahazan Khan, a senior student at the university. He also runs the Twitter handle, @examupdt.
As per the official notification released by the university on September 22, the university decided to resume detention since normal classes have resumed. The notice mentions that the system would come into effect from September 12.
"Though the notice was released on September 22, we came to be aware of it on October 5. The credits acquired in the exams conducted till September 12 will be considered for counting the total. But we did not know of this," Madhav said.
Why are the students upset?
The students shared their concerns with EdexLive and stated that the decision affects third and fourth-year students. Many of them stand the risk of losing a year due to the announcement to implement this detention system. "Our exams have concluded and we have already entered the fourth year. The fourth-year syllabus is 20 per cent completed. And now if this is implemented, many will be affected," said Madhav.
"The sudden notice of credit detention by the University has created a major panic among the students and the information which was to be given before the examinations was been given after the examinations which is not fair. The students' grades were also affected by the classes which were conducted online during the pandemic. The students also did not get more chances to clear their backlogs or gain more credits. Moreover, the conduction of advance supply has also been neglected by the University," a statement by the students reads.
The students contend that had the announcement been made at the beginning of the year, they would have been better prepared. "Since we have begun the fourth year, many have secured placements as well. And if they have to repeat a year, they would lose their jobs," said Manideep Lingam, another fourth-year student at the varsity.
Manideep explained that JNTUH has two detention systems in place: credit-based detention and attendance-based detention. "However, on May 31, the university, through a notification, declared that the attendance-based detention would not be implemented this year. But it did not say anything about the credit-based detention. Then came the September 22 notification after the exams," he said.
"Nor I will approach the Court of Law..."
Shahazan said that the students are in a fix, more so because the university has issued them emails attached with declaration forms. The forms state that the students would be responsible for being detained if they do not secure the required number of credits and would not take legal action against the university in that case.
"As JNTUH is favouring the students and permitting to attend the class work of IV year I semester of the course for the benefit of the students as such I will claim neither any equities nor I will approach the Court of Law if I do not secure the required credits even after declaring the results of the examinations which were conducted up to 12th September, 2022," the official declaration form states.
"The college is in a hurry to implement this system. Since September 12 is the deadline, students are receiving repeated emails to submit the signed form. They are also receiving calls from the faculty, asking them to submit the form soon," Shahazan said. "The students are in a dilemma about what to do," he added.
Planning for a protest
Manideep said that they approached the administration with this issue but their requests were met with no response. The ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) members of JNTUH also submitted a written representation, but this received no response either. And now, Madhav informs that the students are intent on meeting the Vice-Chancellor and also planning a protest on October 10.
"We have already initiated Twitter campaigns on the issue. We are also running a signature campaign on Change.org, which is a platform for online petition," he added.
The official word from the Registrar
Registrar of JNTUH, Dr M Manzoor Hussain, speaking about the matter with EdexLive, said, "The system was in place earlier. The notification which was issued earlier regarding the exemption clearly mentioned that it was because of the pandemic. It is thereby understood that it was not to be in place forever." He also informed that the university would be implementing the attendance detention system and the question paper pattern followed before COVID-19 would be implemented soon as well.
When asked about the decision of sudden implementation affecting the students, Dr Hussain said, "As of now, the credit cut-off has not been calculated yet. So, we do not have the data on exactly how many students are being affected. Once the data is calculated, we can take a step."
