news details |
|
|
| Exam reforms on JU agenda | | | SANT KUMAR SHARMA
Jammu, Nov 17: The Academic Council of Jammu University (JU) has taken decisions having far-reaching consequences on the examination system now in prevalence. The council held a meeting lasting almost six hours, from 4 p.m. onwards on Monday evening.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Varun Sahni, presided over the meeting at which a number of ambitious proposals put forth by various departments were virtually spiked.
The proposal to start an MBA course in International Business got spanked soon after the concerned department put it forth. The dons, of the academic variety, participating in the meeting, did not find much merit in the proposal and sent the idea packing.
The MBA course was introduced in JU in the year 1986 and the first batch of MBAs were out in late 1988, two years later. Since then, the department has seen many sea changes and made rapid strides.
The proposal for starting an MBA course in International Business was an ambitious project for which some teachers were lobbying hard. However, their peers had different ideas and were not convinced about the rationale of starting the course at this juncture.
The department has been asked to reconsider the proposal which effectively means that it has been shelved for now. In future, if and when taken up, it will have to take another avatar and be re-born.
The council devoted considerable time in discussing reforms in the examination system. The issue had been brought before the council by Professor R D Sharma.
The issue had assumed significance because a section of academic staff were trying to evade, if not outright shirk, responsibilities pertaining to smooth conduct of examinations. These teachers were projecting work relating to coding and decoding of answer sheets etc as an additional burden, not an integral part of their duties.
Professor Sahni is reported to have made it clear that the teaching staff will have to pull up their socks and change their outlook in this regard. Most council members have now decided to emphasise that for regular and smooth, besides timely, conduct of examinations, the teachers will have to participate more enthusiastically.
The message to those who preferred to duck for cover and find alibis when assigned work relating to examinations is not a pleasant one. They will need to change stance, participate in it as integral to their duties and help the department to streamline the conduct of examinations. Alternatively, they should be ready to suffer consequences of their inaction.
No formal press release giving details regarding the decisions taken at the council had been issued till late on Tuesday evening. Nor were there any academic dons willing to stick their necks out and say something, even off the record.
A proposal to honour reputed Sanskrit teacher Ved Kumari Ghai with the title of Sanskrit Shiromani also got stalled as it did not find favour with the V-C. Instead, a committee has been constituted to decide on the award of honoris causa to Professor Ghai.
The attempts to switch over to an annual system, instead of the present semester system, at the directorate of distance education (DDE) also did not pass the muster. The semester system, as such, will continue to prevail in the DDE for now, according to available information
Another important decision taken by the council was to set up an experts’ committee to discuss the eligibility criteria for various posts on the teaching side including those like assistant professor, associate professor etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
