MGU Kottayam withdraws controversial order awarding grace marks to B.Tech students

NEW DELHI: Facing flak for granting moderation marks to engineering students after the results were declared, the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) in Kottayam, Kerala, withdrew its controversial order on Thursday, October 24. A statement from the university said: “The decision was taken to avoid people casting aspertions over the university and the academic community.”

The controversy broke out after the university syndicate decided on April 30, 2019, to award up to five marks as moderation to students who had failed one subject in the engineering programme. The state’s opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress party, alleged that the MGU syndicate’s decision smacked of nepotism. He alleged that the Higher Education Minister, KT Jaleel, had deputed his private secretary to a student grievance redress forum, who in turn influenced the university syndicate to award moderation marks to engineering students that failed in one subject in the engineering course.

It was also alleged that the real intention was to help a neighbour of the minister’s private secretary.

The redress forum

The university statement said the emergency syndicate meeting took a unanimous decision to withdraw the April 30 decision to award moderation marks to B.Tech students who failed in any of the 56 subjects. The university registrar has been asked to initiate further action in this regard.

Based on a letter from the principal secretary, higher education, dated February 4, 2019, the university had convened a ‘student Adalat’, the redress forum, on February 22. All the sub-committee conveners of the MGU syndicate were made members of an implementation committee through an order issued on February 18, 2019.

The committee received many complaints, both in person and online. The committee was given the mandate to closely examine the complaints and take appropriate action on behalf of the full syndicate. On a particular application, the action committee decided to allot one mark as per the request and send the file for ratification by the Vice-Chancellor. On March 13, the VC, Sabu Thomas, sent the file for the academic council to look into, as it involved grace marks.

Syndicate’s decision

Without waiting for the decision of the Academic Council or constituting a pass board, as precedents dictated, and without limiting the decision to a single student, the university syndicate on April 30 took a policy decision to allow up to a maximum of five marks to B.Tech students who had passed in all but one paper. While the syndicate and the university maintain that they have the authority to take such decisions, academics question that claim.

However, the university communicated its decision through a May 17 order. By October 17, at least 119 students had made use of it and passed B.Tech course.