Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In what can be termed “bizarre”, more than 1,500 students from colleges affiliated to Devi Ahilya Vishwavidylaya (DAVV) were unable to appear for their examinations in 2024 due to a lack of communication and awareness. The exams, covering 15 different subjects, saw students missing out because they did not get information about the schedule. Among the affected lot, mostly are students who had to take supplementary exams. Despite a new provision under the National Education Policy (NEP) allowing supplementary exams to be conducted four times a year, students remained unaware.
Out of these, more than 500 students missed undergraduate second and final-year exams held in the last six months, as well as the first-year supplementary exams that started on November 26. The majority of these cases involved students from BCom, BA, BBA and BSc programmes. Many students only discovered their predicament after the exams had already concluded or after missing multiple papers. In some cases, over 400 students appealed to the university for re-exams through Jan Sunwai and other channels.
The Communication Gap
DAVV claims its system for disseminating exam schedules is robust. The university uploads timetables on its website 14–21 days prior to exams, a practice recently extended to 30–45 days. Besides, schedules are shared on social media groups of colleges. However, the onus of conveying this information to students also lies with individual colleges, many of which lack proper communication mechanisms. While some colleges inform students through their own social media groups, others have no formal system leaving students uninformed. Complaints of this nature have been lodged against over 25 colleges.
What Went Wrong?
The incident highlights a systemic failure where both students and colleges share the blame. Many students did not check the university website for updates, while colleges failed to notify them effectively.
