Varsity wants senior professors to value answer scripts

Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Cynthia Pandian addressing a meeting in Tirunelveli on Saturday. The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) has made valuation of answer scripts by senior professors compulsory. This is following a series of complaints from several quarters, particularly the Controller of Examinations (In-Charge), N. Arunachalam, regarding repeated skipping of paper valuation by senior faculty members of affiliated colleges.

Participating in a debate on one of the resolutions in the Standing Committee on Academic Affairs (SCAA) of MSU here on Saturday, Dr. Arunachalam said that the senior professors, who did not want to value the undergraduate and post-graduate answer scripts, wanted only to be chiefs. Consequently, the faculty members working in self-financing colleges with only a few years of teaching experience had to be roped in for paper valuation.Members V. Rajaram, M. Sadananthan and others reiterated that the students could get a fair deal only by bringing in the senior professors for valuation.

Intervening, the Vice-Chancellor, MSU, Cynthia Pandian asked the SCAA members whether the promotion of senior professors could be deferred for a while if they preferred to skip paper valuation. But none of the participants favoured the suggestion. “Since we are receiving a lot of complaints from students and good number of appeals for revaluation, the senior faculty members should come forward to fulfill one of their duties,” Dr. Pandian said. When member K. Kumarasamy moved a resolution on admitting all science students, who had studied mathematics at Plus Two in the M.Sc. Computer Science programme irrespective of their major in the undergraduate programme, it drew flak from all quarters.