The Kerala Unaided College Principals’ Council has urged the new Minister for Higher Education to have a rethink on the semester system in colleges in the State against the backdrop of the pandemic situation.
Council president Varughese Mathew said in an open letter that the system had turned out to be examination-oriented instead of encouraging students’ aptitude for research-oriented learning. A three-year degree course has six semesters and there are 17 exams in each semester. There are 10 internal exams, five university exams and one audit course exam and open course exam each, apart from five assignments per semester. A two-year postgraduate course with two semesters has 15 exams in each semester. During a three-year course, a student will have to write at least 102 exams, apart from appearing for seminars and doing assignments and projects.
Before the semester system was implemented in 2010, both graduate and postgraduate students had only 15 exams in a year, including five university exams, and quarterly and half-yearly exams. They did not have any assignments or seminars.
Though the university wants at least 90 academic days in a semester, colleges get only around 70 now in view of holidays and others. Many teachers would be on exam duty and later put on answer script evaluation. Academic days are lost due to the conduct of regular, supplementary and distance education exams too.
Mr. Mathew pointed out that the teachers were forced to present subjects only in a capsule format as they are short of time. Students were not able to get to the core of the subject or imbibe its essence. They don’t develop scientific temper or a thirst for knowledge. Mr. Mathew said that the students were also not able to participate in extra-curricular activities such as the National Cadet Corps or National Service Scheme. They fail to develop social responsibility. They are not able to develop their artistic or sports skills either.
He claimed that the universities were unable to implement the semester system mainly because of the large number of affiliated colleges. Most universities outside Kerala have only around 100 colleges affiliated to them. In Kerala, Calicut University, the largest such institution in the State, has 275 arts and science colleges attached to it across five districts, apart from teacher training colleges and management institutes. The university holds 12,000 exams a year for over 3.5 lakh students.
The council wanted the new government to implement advanced technologies for the conduct of exams and decentralise the process. Cluster of colleges should be formed to share their resources. They should also be allowed to conduct exams on the question papers set by the university and evaluate answer scripts on their own, the council added.
