University of Delhi, after a long wait, finally declared the results for the November- December examination for B.A. Honours English, final year students. However, the consensus among students suggests the results to be underwhelming and much below their expectations.
According to the collective opinion, there has been a dip of around 1-1.5 GPA in the results. One of the students scoring above 7 points in all four previous semesters said, “there has been an abysmal reduction in my grades while my exams went really well. I was expecting to score my best this semester because the papers were straightforward and I was able to complete them all in time.” Another scoring an Eight grade point in previous semesters they saw a fall of 1.25 points this semester owing to the faulty checking or grading mechanism, “I was expecting a result similar to previous semesters this time as well. It seems there is something fishy with the system of checking or grading this time around. My entire batch has suffered from this reduction in marks and there seems to be a pattern in it.” The evaluation of the answer sheets had to take place alongside the then ongoing DUTA strike because of which a lot of teachers did not go for checking the papers this time. One of the students pointed out that the answer scripts, as they were informed, were being checked at a slow pace due to strike and then after a week or so, the University was shut on orders of the UGC due to the pandemic. Students are unable to understand how and when the evaluation process took place thereafter. The faculties from across colleges have also found this result to be problematic. According to them, the results have witnessed an unprecedented reduction in the grades that they did not expect. There also seems to be a pattern, as some suggest, in marking of the answer scripts. According to students, in one of the DSE papers, the entire batch has scored mostly 7 while only a few have 6 grade point in that paper.
No student has scored above 7 in the paper while the paper has seen quite a few students above 8 grade point, even 10 in previous batches. Similarly, in a core paper the grades range from 5 to 7 with negligible above that. “There seems to be an unavoidable pattern in the way grades have dropped. I am really disappointed,” responded one when asked about their score.
The final year students are worried that their admissions in the months to come in post-graduation courses will be affected by such results, “we have to carry these marksheets with us anywhere we go, how do we explain it to others that the fault was on administration’s part.” Another student said that such a marksheet would make it difficult to even apply for business schools she wanted to apply to.
Students are also unable to understand as to how to address these concerns. Some have suggested they apply for revaluation of their answer scripts when the system reconvenes but students note, “It seems very irresponsible an act from the side of the administration or evaluators, whoever is at fault, as they irresponsibly mishandled the grades of the third years. It becomes further problematic for many to apply for revaluation when one paper costs somewhere around ₹ 700 to 1000 for a paper.” The revaluation process is time consuming and faulty, say those who have applied for revaluation in the past. The revaluation process has taken around 6-8 months, reports one who applied for revaluation for a 3rd semester paper and received the result right before the examination of 5th semester, not knowing whether to re-appear for the exam applied a few days before the examination. With such a time delay, how are students supposed to apply to other Universities, reiterate some.
Students and teachers alike are disappointed and can see a pattern in marking, with students unable to believe the marksheets they have received and want the university to take cognisance of the matter.
