Not very long ago, the students of the R18 batch of JNTU (Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University), Hyderabad, who completed their fourth year recently were protesting about not being provided with the facility of subject exemption. And now the students have planned to hold another protest on October 12 regarding the issue.
How subject exemption, grace marks row began
In August 2022, JNTUH announced through a notification that students of the R18 batch would not be given grace marks and subject exemption, facilities which their seniors availed. The students were very much disappointed with this. They claimed that many of them would lose a year and lose their placements if subject exemption is not provided.
The university administration, on the other hand, stated that the notification was brought out in accordance with the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) guidelines. Additionally, the administration held that since the subject load was reduced in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic times, the subject exemption cannot be provided.
The students held a series of protests against this decision. And later, in September 2022, the university agreed to provide grace marks to the students, but kept firm on its stand that subject exemption would not be given. However, students continue to demand for it and have initiated protests and Twitter campaigns regarding the issue.
"JNTUH has not responded so far and has already started issuing migration certificates and consolidated mark sheets of the students. The protest on October 12 is our last attempt to draw the administration's attention," Shahazan Khan, a student of the batch and the administrator of Twitter handle @examupdt, said.
