Jadavpur University has proposed to help fourth-year BTech students get accommodation so they can write the end-semester exams on campus.
The fourth-year students, who constitute the last non-domiciled batch, had said they were struggling to find accommodation required to write the exams physically and wanted the tests to be held online.
JU introduced a domicile clause in the engineering faculty in 2019, reserving 90 per cent of the BTech seats for those residing in West Bengal continuously for at least 10 years.
Students from the last non-domiciled batch are from states like Bihar and Jharkhand.
Many of the outstation students used to stay in PG accommodations, besides staying in hostels, before the pandemic in March 2020. Classes were held online as a precaution against Covid after that.
The problem of accommodation cropped up last week after the university’s examination board resolved that the BTech final-year end semester exams would be held offline next month, like the exams in other faculties.
Offline exams mean candidates have to come to campus, said a JU official.
Those who stayed in PGs earlier were finding it difficult to get accommodation for a short duration and were insisting on writing the exams online, he said.
When the students cited this constraint, the university proposed taking steps to arrange lodging for them.
“We are exploring the possibility of accommodating them in the university’s hostels or in youth hostels run by the state government. If required, they could be lodged in PGs. We want students to write the exams in-person for the sake of fair assessment,” the official said.
JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das said on Wednesday: “I have sought information from students about the need for accommodation. Once we get it, we will see what can be done.”
The teachers were insisting on offline exams because online, the tests are held without invigilation.
Partha Pratim Roy, the general secretary of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (Juta), said they were seeking a uniform exam pattern across faculties because the university had made the shift from online to offline classes.
“If online exams are still allowed, questions will be raised about the sanctity of the exams. We welcome the fact that the university is planning to go the extra mile so students can write the exams offline,” he said.
The faculty of students’ union in engineering and technology (Fetsu) wrote to VC Das on Wednesday asking for the exams to be held online.
In the letter, the students sought online exams because the university had not responded to their accommodation problem.
Gourav Das, the general secretary of the students union, who signed the letter, said: “We have been raising the accommodation issue over the past month, but in vain.”
