In the attempt to instil discipline, the Calcutta University on Monday said that it would not allow students to sit for examinations without a minimum percentage of attendance.
“We are ensuring that students (in undergraduate and post-graduate levels) will not be allowed to write their papers without the minimum percentage of attendance,” interim vice-chancellor of the university Asutosh Ghosh said.
“Different universities follow different yardsticks on this issue. However, the CU will enforce the rule strictly for regular absentee students”, he added.
He cited the examples of other notable institutions of the city run by the Ramakrishna Mission or St Xavier’s College. He said, “In RKM colleges and in St Xavier’s, students have to attend classes regularly. They can be our models.” “If we have to instil discipline among students, we must ensure that they attend classes,” he added.
As compared to Presidency University who has recently banned any political activity in the campus, Ghosh said, “The number of students in Presidency is far lower than CU. In the Bengali department, for instance, there are 30-40 students in a class which are many times lower than the number of Bengali students in CU. However, we are serious on the issue.”
Asked about media reports about some colleges with student intake exceeding their capacities, Ghosh said, “We have collected figures and it was found that some colleges admitted the excess number of students in some cases. We have discussed the issue with the colleges so that such things were not repeated.”
