Internal assessment may shock you at DU

When Delhi University (DU) undergraduate student Aditya N. Prasad looked at his BA (Honours) History results, he was in for a surprise, reports Anuradha Mukherjee.

When Delhi University (DU) undergraduate student Aditya N. Prasad looked at his BA (Honours) History results, he was in for a surprise.

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He had failed to make the minimum 50 per cent aggregate marks that were required for admission into the Campus Law Centre.

“I was quite sure that I would clear the minimum marks, but I later found that my internal assessment marks were not included in the final assessment,” he said.

After running around DU offices, Prasad filed a writ petition in court demanding the cancellation of his admission to Campus Law Centre be stayed and his internal assessment marks be looked into. The matter is pending in court with the next hearing on November 24.

Prasad, however, wasn’t the only one complaining.

An application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Josh, an NGO, has revealed that no less than 751 complaints were received by the university from individual students and leading colleges like Miranda House, IP College, KMC, JMC and Sri Venkateswara College. The principals of these colleges had complained that internal assessment marks of their brightest students had been reduced arbitrarily. Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental could not be reached for comments.

Internal assessments allow a certain number of marks for regular attendance, assignments turned in and for attending extra-curricular activities.

The Delhi University, however, moderates these marks to apparently ensure that no college gives its students inflated marks.

The university calculates the average marks scored by students on account of internal assessment across its 85 colleges and then uses it as a marker to reduce or increase a student’s marks.