DU’s internal trouble

At Delhi University (DU), it doesn’t pay to be outstandingly bright. That’s the consensus gaining ground among students and teachers here, as any effort to perform brilliantly usually becomes a victim of moderation.

At Delhi University (DU), it doesn’t pay to be outstandingly bright.

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That’s the consensus gaining ground among students and teachers in Delhi, as any effort to perform brilliantly usually becomes a victim of moderation.

Moderation of marks in DU is a process through which the university tries to bridge the gap between the two extremes — brilliant and not-so-brilliant students.

This is done by decreasing internal assessment marks of high-scoring students and increasing it for the low scoring ones.

However, brilliant students seemed to have suffered in the university’s bid to bring in parity; including DU’s second-year topper.

Students from 10 women’s colleges officially complained to the Dean of Examination on having lost out on anywhere between two to eight marks because of moderation.

Monday even saw a protest on this issue by teachers and students outside the examination cell.

For Akanksha Kochar (20), working hard on her college assignments and examination seems pointless.

Had it not been for the arbitrary reduction of marks, Kochar — now a student of third-year Mathematics (Honours) — would have scored a jaw dropping aggregate of 98.6 per cent. With moderation, her total has been scaled down to 96 per cent.

Students of Mathematics (Honours), it seems, are the worst affected this year.

“I think we all know how seriously girls attend classes and prepare for examinations. And strangely we are the ones most affected this year... each of us have worked very hard and deserve what ever has been awarded by the teachers,” said Joanna Grover, third-year student of Mathematics (Honours) at Jesus and Mary College.