Bengaluru: Students of KSLU along with the National Students’ Union of India are demanding clarity on the situation of semester exams.
Manish G. Raj, state general secretary of the NSIU said, “We’re staging the protest to agitate against the status of exams. KSLU is the only university in the country that has extended its term for more than 16 months. Upon that, the even semester exams are still to be conducted and there is no clarity whatsoever.” He added that the university must provide clear guidelines to students appearing for examinations.
Varun Kumar, a student of KSLU and a student activist, said, “We are protesting for four demands. The results have not been given, our semesters have been delayed whereas private universities have already promoted their students. Third, timetable for exams has not been given and fourth, students need to complete their backlogs.” He further said that UGC guidelines require universities to intimate students about upcoming examinations at least 21 days in advance. The university had failed to do so, causing a lot of trouble for students living outside of Bangalore.
The premise of the protest revolved around “five years in five years, three years in three,” meaning that the students did not want a delay in exam and wanted the university to complete the course within the stipulated time.
Varsha Ayappa, a second year student of St. Joseph’s College of Law said, “I joined in 2020 and it’s almost 2022 and I’m still without my first year results. The second semester exam hasn’t been done yet and even the repeaters exam is left. I couldn’t attend my first semester exams as both my parents had covid. So now I’m in a position where my first sem exams are left, second sem exams are left and I’m already in my third semester.” She said she felt pressurised about studying for so many exams at once, which demotivated her from studying altogether.
Inspector Prakash GC present at the scene said that it was unlikely for the protest to turn violent and it should last for around an hour.
Apart from the above demands, the students also vociferously demanded the resignation of the Vice Chancellor of KSLU, Prof. Dr. Ishwara Bhat.
The student union leader assured that he will meet CM Basavaraj Bommai, governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and law minister Madhava Swami at Raj Bhavan after the protest to put forth the students; demands.
The students hope that the protest will be fruitful and the university authorities will regulate the status of their examinations efficiently. They said that they will not back down from protesting across the city until their demands are met sufficiently.
