An apparent communication gap at the start of the Odd Semester had resulted in affiliated colleges of Bharathiar University (BU) toeing the new syllabi framed by the Board of Studies for various subjects, for a two-month duration, only to revert to the old syllabi later.
The issue raised by principals during the Senate meeting on Wednesday, however, did not elicit a proper response from the members of the VC Committee or the Registrar.
The colleges had also conducted the first internal test based on the new syllabi by the time they received instructions from the university to follow the old syllabi.
Principals complained that the teachers and students had been put to extreme hardship due to paucity of time for completion of the portions in the old syllabi.
The Commissioner of Technical Education, T. Abraham, who chaired the meeting intervened to assure the house that recurrence of the communication gap will be prevented in future.
The confusion, the college heads sought to point out, was entirely avoidable.
As per the usual practice, the university uploads the new syllabi in its website by June.
While it did not happen this time, the Chairpersons of the Boards of Studies had circulated the new syllabi to the colleges well in time.
College heads had, at that point of time, urged the university to clarify its position on the syllabi, but to no avail, a principal of an affiliated college said.
It was only two months after commencement of the Odd Semester that the university issued the instruction to the colleges to stick to the old syllabi.
The refrain of the university was that the colleges ought to have surmised that the old syllabi was valid as long as the new syllabi was not uploaded in the website.
The standpoint of the chairpersons of the Boards of Studies was that they had circulated the new syllabi at the request of the colleges.
“It is a clear case of administrative lapse,” another college head said, wondering why the functions of Boards of Studies had to be undermined by the university.
Teachers and students of Computer Science, Mathematics and Commerce programmes, in which the major changes had been effected in the new syllabi, were affected the most, it is learnt.
The teachers had to engage the students on Saturdays and conduct special classes as well to rush through the content in the new syllabi in the remaining part of the Odd Semester.
Eventually, the students are the ultimate losers as they miss out on studying the updated content in a scenario of cut-throat competition in the job market, teachers lamented.
Published – January 30, 2025 11:33 pm IST