Anna University eases exam tension for rain-affected

A top official in the Anna university said that colleges that have been badly affected by rains could send a request to the university, then students of such institutions would be allowed to write their exams next semester and such papers would not be considered as arrears.

An earlier announcement of the university which said that the postponed exams for the first, third, fifth and seventh semesters in affiliated colleges all over the state would start from Dec 15 came in for criticism from parents in the rain ravaged areas of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Cuddalore.

The schedule starts from December 15 and continues till January 21. The December 15 exam was originally scheduled on December 7. But the concerns raised by parents, whose wards study in colleges in the affected districts, is how students are expected to write the exams when they have lost their books and other study materials. Even if the outstation students manage to reach the colleges a day before the Dec 15 exam, how will they be able to take the test as most colleges are still water logged. Pandian of Tiruchi said, “The university should have taken into consideration the hardships of students under such circumstances. Already repeated postponements have resulted in students going home and returning at least twice.”

The university was caught in a bind as they focused on getting the exams over to ensure that the academic stream was not affected and that the results were released quickly so that subsequent semesters could at least be normalised. Another official said, “The university is keen on completing the examinations to make up for the lost time. In fact, no engineering college informed us about their institutions being waterlogged”, he added.

With the government ordering all the colleges to hold special camps for two weeks from Dec 14 to provide educational certificates for those who have lost them in the floods, parents wonder how students will concentrate on studies when they will busy getting their certificates.