Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Apr 29: Of the total 369 students of Jawaharlal Nehru College (JNC) in East Siang HQ Pasighat who had appeared in the BSc third semester exam in December last year, an astounding 205 failed in chemistry.
A section of the students of JNC has alleged that out-of-syllabus framing of the chemistry question paper was the reason behind the failing of such a large number of students.
The chemistry paper carried 50 marks, out of which the students had to score at least 17.5 marks to pass.
“We found that a number of questions, carrying around 12 marks, were out of syllabus in our chemistry paper. Twelve marks mean a lot to us; it could result in the loss of an entire academic year as in our case, some of us who scored 17 marks were also declared failed since we needed to secure at least 17.5 marks to pass. It is unfair,” said one of the students.
The results show that most of the students scored 14 to 15 marks in the exam.
Some students said that the college’s chemistry HoD also acknowledged their issue and wrote to Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) for consideration but the authorities informed them that the questions were not at all out of syllabus.
The Arunachal Times reached out to the principal of JNC, Pasighat, for more information, but he categorically denied having any knowledge of the whole issue.
“I have neither received any report nor a letter from the students or the respective head of department,” he said.
The students, however, claimed that they, along with the department’s HoD, had appealed to RGU to consider their case but their request was denied.
“We appeal to the authorities to acknowledge our genuine issue and grant us at least grace marks, so that our precious academic year is not wasted,” said one of the students.
Meanwhile, RGU’s Controller of Examination, Nani Jose, has rejected the claim of the JNU students that the BSc third semester chemistry question paper contained out-of-syllabus questions.
He said that on receiving an application from the college, an experts’ committee, which comprised faculty members from Dera Natung Government College, was constituted and it came to the conclusion that none of the questions was out of syllabus.
“It is a very subjective matter. Sometimes questions are framed in a manner which may confuse students, and they fail to answer it. Most of the time it depends on the confidence level of the students,” Jose said.
