Law students cite evaluation errors in answer sheets; MU says human oversight
Several students at Mumbai University alleged evaluation errors in the answer sheets of semester examinations of three-year and five-year Law courses.
Students claimed that they were incorrectly marked as having failed, with some sections of answer sheets marked as 'Not Attempted' (NA), despite the questions being answered.
The university said that the error occurred due to human oversight, and action has been initiated against the evaluator concerned.
The university had conducted exams for the sixth semester of the three-year law course and the tenth semester of the five-year law course between April 16 and April 30.
After the results were announced on June 9, several students were marked as failed in subjects like Tax Law and the Indian Evidence Act.
These students then applied for photocopies of their answer sheets, as per the regular process to opt for re-evaluation of the papers.
However, the photocopies revealed that evaluation was not done in many cases. Despite students having written answers, many questions were ultimately marked with the remark 'NA'.
One of the affected students said, 'I scored 33 out of 60. But the photocopy of the answer-sheet reveals that a 14-mark question was not evaluated at all.'
A student activist, Sachin Pawar, who was approached by many of these students, said, 'This is a serious concern. The university's callous approach is dangerous for students' future. The varsity should conduct a re-evaluation of all papers of these subjects and declare a fresh result.'
In a written response to the issue, Mumbai University's Director of Board of Examinations and Evaluations, Pooja Raundale, said, 'In the Law faculty, the number of evaluators is significantly low. In connection with the complaint, upon reviewing the answer sheets of the concerned students, it was found that Question No. 01(i) and Question No. 4(c) had not been evaluated. This error occurred due to human oversight, and action has been initiated against the concerned evaluator. The university will implement necessary improvements in the computer system to ensure such errors do not recur.'
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