THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Marking a return to pen-and-paper examinations after many months, BTech supplementary examinations will commence in engineering colleges in the State on Wednesday. The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) is conducting the exams amid an intense social media campaign demanding their deferral.
Enabling students to clear their backlog at one go, the KTU had decided to break tradition that generally involved the conduct of examinations of odd and even semesters separately. While the supplementary examinations of the seventh (S7) and fourth (S4) semesters are set to begin on September 9 and September 15 respectively, the registration for the other semesters were under way.
While 18,989 students will appear for the S7 papers, as many as 25,385 students will write the S4 examinations. A total of 12,555 students have utilised the facility to opt for examination centres closer to their homes.
Among those who have enrolled for the S7 exams, the highest number (1,016) will appear from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, followed by the MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram, (957), and Government Engineering College, Kozhikode (877).
Dispelling fears of crowding at the centres, official sources said the enrolment was less than 70 is over 90% of the colleges, enabling the institutions to reserve two or three classrooms for the exams, ensuring sufficient distance between candidates. The examinations would be held adhering to the COVID-19 protocol in forenoon and afternoon sessions until November 9.
The decision to conduct supplementary examinations has brought relief to large sections who faced the threat of losing jobs and others who have been unable to apply for job openings. However, many have demanded that the examinations be conducted online, raising the example of final-year examinations recently conducted online by respective colleges.
However, sources involved in the conduct of final-year examinations opined that they were not held in a foolproof manner with several institutions failing to ensure transparency and impartiality. Besides, online examinations necessitated several months of preparation.
A proposal to conduct supplementary examinations again after three months is also being considered for the benefit of students who were unable to reach the State in time for the examinations on account of the travel curbs in view of the pandemic.
