Presidency University will admit students to its undergraduate courses this year on the basis of board marks as admission tests cannot be held because of the Covid-19 pandemic, an official of the university said.

The university decided on the admission model after going through the feedback teachers submitted to their departmental heads. Vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia had asked the teachers to share their feedback after being told by the JEE board that it could not hold the admission test on behalf of Presidency this year.

“The tests cannot be held online because of connectivity issues. So, they have suggested admissions through board marks,” said an official.

Sources on the campus said the teachers of the physics and chemistry departments had proposed that apart from factoring in plus-II board marks, the scores in physical science and math in Madhyamik be considered, given that the West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Education could not hold tests in the papers because of the pandemic.

The students had the best marks in the papers they had written awarded to the ones they could not.

“If we admit students based on the marks in physics so obtained, we will have no idea how proficient a student is in the subject. So we have suggested that marks in physical science and math in Madhyamik be also considered,” said a physics teacher.

A chemistry teacher said the same concern had prompted them to propose that the marks in the science papers in Madhyamik be considered.

“We need to have as many screening layers as possible, considering that the candidates across boards have notched up high marks at the plus-II level. The physical science paper in Madhyamik has chapters on chemistry. So the marks in the paper should also be considered,” said a teacher.

The biological science department has proposed that the merit list be only based on the plus-II board marks. The marks in life science or related papers in Madhyamik or equivalent board exams would be considered only to break ties.

“The chances of the scores getting tied are higher this time. Therefore, we have proposed that the scores from the secondary board marks be taken into account to break ties,” said a teacher.

At Presidency, the political science department has proposed that they will admit students on the basis of the board marks at the secondary and the higher secondary levels. The sociology and the economics departments want to prepare the merit list based only on plus-II board marks.

A clear picture on whether board-specific rules have to be made will emerge after the admission committee meets this week, said an official.

VC Lohia said in a text message to The Telegraph that decisions about the mode of admissions would be announced this week.

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, in Belur, which too has been forced to scrap admissions tests, will give additional weightage to participants in math Olympiads and national talent search exams for admission to undergraduate math and physics courses. The college may consider the secondary board exam marks to break ties.