Hyderabad: The bandh called by the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Institutions (FATHI) might have ended, but students who missed their exams due to management’s failure to conduct them are still waiting for clarity on the re-conduct of the tests. Pharmacy students, whose last exam is scheduled for Nov 14, said that the first two missed exams should be conducted immediately after the final paper without any delay.“I went to college on the first day of exams, but the management informed us that it was postponed. Now, it is the responsibility of the college and university to reschedule the exam so that we do not suffer,” said Usha S, a first-year B Pharma student.Another student, Akhila Reddy, said that it would be better if exams were conducted at the earliest. “A majority of students, including me, couldn’t write the exam through no fault of ours. If the exams are immediately conducted, we could clear them before the second year commences,” she added.As per the schedule released by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH), the second-semester final exams for first-year B Pharmacy students were scheduled to be held between Nov 4 and Nov 14. However, over 90% of first-year students were absent as the majority of colleges were shut down and boycotted the exams over fee reimbursement dues.“It is the govt’s fault that managements and faculty have to go on a protest over the dues. We have even given notice to the varsity about the protest. Despite prior intimation, JNTUH went ahead with the exams. Now, the least they can do is reconduct them, as most students have missed out,” said A Ramesh, principal of a private pharmacy college.Meanwhile, the managements said they have been meeting officials and ministers to ensure that students are not at the receiving end. They questioned why the first two exams cannot be reconducted when the university reschedules exams postponed due to bandhs, heavy rains, technical issues, among other reasons.“This is about the future of over 7,000 students. The varsity should think about them and reconduct the exam,” said K Ramadas from the Telangana Pharmacy College Managements Association, adding that writing supplementary is not a solution for students as doing so will make them ineligible to get gold medals or even become a problem when they go for masters.However, JNTU officials said that it is unlikely that they will reconduct the exams again. “Generally, once an exam is conducted, the varsity will not reconduct it. Supplementary will be the only option for students,” a varsity official said. Officials from the state education dept said the managements are yet to bring this issue formally to their notice. “Let them first approach us. We will look into it,” an official said.
