Students at loggerheads over Mumbai university’s law exam schedules

While some students have requested the varsity to postpone the upcoming semester examinations, a few others have opposed the idea.

There are contradictory views among law college students, who are unsure whether exams for semesters 2, 4 and 6 must be rescheduled or go on as per timetable.

On Saturday, students held a protest at the varsity, led by the Student Law Council, for the delay in declaring results. (HT File Photo)

The confusion prevails as University of Mumbai (MU) is yet to declare the results of law exams for semesters 1, 3 and 5, held in 2017, as well as early this year.

While some students have requested the varsity to postpone the upcoming semester examinations, a few others have opposed the idea.

On Saturday, students held a protest at the varsity, led by the Student Law Council (SLC), against the delay in the declaration of results.

Students had demanded that the varsity postpone the upcoming regular LLB examinations of semesters 2, 4 and 6. They submitted an online petition to MU, requesting the rescheduling with 600 signatures from students.

“We requested the university to shift the tests so that the students have more time to prepare for it,” said Sachin Pawar, president, SLC.

Similarly, another group of students from various law colleges in the city, submitted a letter to the university opposing changes to the existing schedule. They even floated an online petition opposing any change in the exam date. The petition received more than 400 signatures.

“Postponing exams will badly affect Final year students who are planning to pursue post graduate courses in India and abroad, after clearing LLB. Students who have already secured internships in the month of June and July will unnecessarily suffer if exams are postponed,” read their petition.

The examinations are scheduled to start by the end of this month. The university has already postponed the repeat examinations of semesters 1, 3 and 5 at the request of the students.

MU has been suffering from the cascading effects of last year’s mess in its examination department, caused by its decision to adopt an on-screen assessment method. The move resulted in delays in result declarations and disrupted the varsity’s academic calendar.

Zain Shroff, a student at Jitendra Chauhan College of Law said, “Scheduling of examination is a trivial matter. Varsity and students should instead focus on declaring results on time.”