Failed MU law students discover that answer sheets were not fully evaluated

After the results, announced nearly a month and a half after the exam, showed these unexpectedly low marks, the students requested photocopies of their answer sheets. They were shocked to find that responses worth nearly 50 out of 75 marks were marked as ‘NA’ (Not Assessed) during the online evaluation process

MUMBAI: In yet another serious systemic lapse, this time in the examination department, the University of Mumbai’s (MU) law faculty failed several students, who later found that their detailed answers in their taxation law and Bharatiya Sakhshya Adhiniyam papers had not been assessed at all.

Mumbai University’s blunder leaves students seeking justice

After the results, announced nearly a month and a half after the exam, showed these unexpectedly low marks, the students requested photocopies of their answer sheets. They were shocked to find that responses worth nearly 50 out of 75 marks were marked as ‘NA’ (Not Assessed) during the online evaluation process.

Altaf Detha, a student from a Chembur-based college, was among those who failed. “When I saw my result, I was taken aback,” he said. “I come from a commerce background and have also done a Company Secretary course. Taxation law is my favourite subject, and I have always scored well in it during college exams.”

Following the disappointing result, Detha applied for a copy of his answer sheet and a re-evaluation. “Even though I had written detailed answers to all the questions covering 50 out of 75 marks, those questions were not checked,” he said. “At the end of the answer sheet, the evaluator simply wrote ‘NA’ against more than half the questions.”

Another final-year student, who did not want to be named, faced a similar issue. His Bhartiya Sakhshya Adhiniyam (formerly the Indian Evidence Act) paper also had multiple answers left unchecked. “We have complained to the university administration but no concrete action has been taken yet,” he said. “Our entire careers are at stake. I pursued law with the aim of beginning legal practice. But with the Bar Council exam around the corner, we won’t be able to register or apply for further education because of these errors.”

When Detha and the other student visited MU’s examination department, they found several other students there with similar complaints. Student organisations have stepped in, demanding urgent action. Advocate Sachin Pawar, a student activist, called the issue “extremely serious”. “This is nothing short of playing with the future of students,” he said. “These repeated blunders, be they during online exams, in marksheets, or now in evaluation, show a serious flaw in the system. The university must act against those responsible or we will be forced to launch a strong protest.”

Senate member Pradeep Sawant has also taken the matter seriously and demanded strict action against the culprits.

Pooja Roundale, director, Board of Examination and Evaluation, said “MU adopted the OSM (On-Screen Marking) computer-based answer sheet evaluation system from May 2017. With this system, examiners can check answer sheets online by sitting in the computer lab of their college. During evaluation, if some questions in the answer sheet are not solved by the students, or some pages are blank, the examiner records a remark like NA (Not Attempted) in the system.”

Roundale further stated that the law faculty had very few evaluators. “After reviewing the answer sheets of the students concerned, we found that it was on account of a human error, and action has been initiated against the evaluator concerned,” she said. “The university will make necessary improvements in the computer system to prevent such human errors from happening again.”