GO baffles teaching aspirants, distance education students

More than three lakh students pursuing distance education courses with 13 State-owned universities also face a similar situation as authorities are tight-lipped about whether exams will be conducted for these candidates or not as there remained no clarity in the recent government order, which scrapped the exams for other disciplines.

 A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next on Saturday that under Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University there are 719 affiliated colleges, including 21 government and government-aided institutions, providing B.Ed. and M.Ed. to more than 60,000 students.

 Similarly, there are currently about 20,000 students, who were also pursuing Diploma in Teacher Education. “Of the total students in both the courses, about 40,000 students, apart from final-year candidates, will have to appear for semester exams this year,” he added.

 Similarly, more than four lakh students were pursuing courses in 13-State owned universities, with Annamalai University possessing the maximum intake of 1.4 lakh candidates. “Apart from final-year students, about three lakh examinees will be studying for the first and second year,” he added.

 As there is no specific instruction in the government order till date, the official maintained that all these candidates, who were in the first and second year are likely to appear for exams this year.

 M Bhavani, doing first-year B.Ed. in a private college in the city said, “The government order failed to specifically mention B.Ed. students and therefore, authorities should clarify to remove the stress of several thousand candidates.” She said even there is no communication from her college about the order.

 Demanding cancellation of exams for those pursuing B.Ed. programmes and distance education courses, Tamil Nadu Teachers Association president P K Ilamaran said the institutions should instead calculate marks based on their performance in previous exams.

 M Selvakumar, pursuing B.Com via correspondence and working in the city for a living, said: “Though students may not have any problem appearing for exams as they are already prepared, the government should remember that we are also students”.