DU may give up moderation

In what could come as a relief for students, Delhi University may soon scrap the controversial system of ‘moderating’ the internal assessment marks of its students, reports Joyeeta Ghosh.

In what could come as a relief for students, Delhi University may soon scrap the controversial system of ‘moderating’ the internal assessment marks of its students.

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The system was introduced to bring parity among colleges.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental said, “We are mulling to scrap the moderation of marks after the feedback from students, who feel it’s unfair. Though we have not fixed a time frame, we will replace it as soon as we decide on an alternative to replace it.”

‘Unjust’ system

Students of some colleges, such as Jesus and Mary, Kamla Nehru, Lady Shriram and SRCC, who lost marks due to moderation, feel it’s an unjust system.

Subhashree Sarkar, a third-year Economics (Honours) student of Lady Shriram College, lost six marks due to moderation.

“In the first year, the whole class lost four marks in the Principles of Economics paper and two in Statistics. What’s the point of working hard when you know your marks are going to be scaled down?”

“In such a highly competitive academic atmosphere, the loss of 2 per cent is a big setback for students like me who are planning to pursue higher studies. It will be a great relief for students if it’s scrapped.”

Teachers agree

Teachers across colleges, too, have questioned the wisdom of moderating marks in internal assessment.

Sanam Khanna, who teaches English Literature in Kamla Nehru College, feels the blanket moderation of marks defeats the purpose of internal assessment, which was to alleviate pressure.

“It’s unfair for a student who has done very well. Also, for students who may have missed out on questions in the final exams, the internal assessment marks are crucial, so if they are scaled down, it affects their percentage. It should be scrapped.”

Alternative?

The university has been trying to arrive at an acceptable formula since the introduction of the moderation system in internal assessments.

First, it was linked to the performance of the student in the theory exam. Last year, the university decided to follow a band system instead.

It takes the average score for a particular paper in a college and then compares it to the average of the university in that paper.

For instance, if the top score for a paper is 25/25 and the lowest score is 5/25, the university can subtract from the highest score or add from the lowest score to ensure all marks lie within a common band of, say, 10 to 20.