Colleges want MU to push first semester exam to December

Request made by those colleges who recently received permission to start new courses, as they intend to begin admissions this year itself

All those colleges which recently received an approval to start admissions for new courses, even as the first semester exam is just a month away, have now requested the University of Mumbai (MU) to reschedule the exam in December so that they can finish the portion for the new courses by the first week of December.

The semester exam is currently scheduled for November, which is already a month late. Generally, the exam is held before the Diwali vacation. The colleges have requested the controller of examination to postpone the exam, as they plan to start admissions for new courses this year itself.

“It is not our mistake that the permissions came through so late. However, many students were awaiting the same. We will need at least two months to complete the portion for the first semester, therefore we sought an extension,” said the principal of a suburban college.

While 21 institutes got permission to start over 30 courses, 15 of these colleges are in Mumbai and Thane. In July, about 60 colleges affiliated with the MU were granted permission to start new courses or add divisions to the existing unaided courses, including Bachelors in Management Studies (BMS), Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM), BCom in Accounting & Finance (BAF), BCom in Investment Management (BIM), etc.

These colleges will first have to send an application of undertaking to the joint director of education to retain their unaided status and then follow up with the affiliation formalities before they start the admission process. Like every year, the deadline to finish admission process cannot go beyond September 30.

“This process might take more time for colleges to not only finish the admission process, but also to start regular lectures and finish the portion. As of now, no clear decision has been taken in this matter and neither have we decided to change the examination schedule,” said MA Khan, MU registrar.

He added the issuance of permission got delayed due to various reasons, including certain queries that MU had in some of the applications, for which clarifications were sought and only then forwarded to the state for approval.

Old colleges, new courses

Some of the institutes and the new courses for which they received an approval

*Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management (Vile Parle): BA (Film & Television Production), MCom, MSC-IT and MA (Entertainment & Advertising)

*Bunts Sangha’s Ramnath Payyade College of Hospitality Management (Kurla): BSc (Hospitality Studies)

*Chandrabhan Sharma College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Powai): BCom and BMS

*R J Thakur College of Arts & Commerce (Thane): BCom

*Shri Ram College of Commerce (Bhandup): BCom, BCom in Accounting and Finance (BAF), Bachelors in Management Studies (BMS)