The Hindu : New Delhi News : JNU equivalence chart opposed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 13, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

JNU equivalence chart opposed

Staff Reporter

NSUI opposing the chart saying it is not student friendly

Passed by the Academic Council, will convert academic grades of students to percentage

NEW DELHI: The new equivalence chart approved by the Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to help convert academic grades of students to percentage has found opposition in some sections here with many calling the pattern student-unfriendly.

Aimed at helping students who want to apply in other universities or a government job that requires percentage as against grades given by JNU, the new equivalence chart was passed at the last Academic Council meeting of the University and devised by a special committee of experts.

`Interest of students'

"We have prepared the chart keeping in mind the interest of students. We will continue to award grades to students, with the chart being for students who might need to change it for their own need. There is nothing to be apprehensive about it as it has been set by a committee after much deliberation. We have only standardised the pattern we followed earlier and not introduced a new policy,'' said JNU Vice-Chancellor B.B.Bhattacharya.

Incidentally, student representatives were also part of the Academic Council discussion in which the chart was passed. The opposition in this case has come from the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) that believes that the new system is not student friendly.

"The new proposed formula further hampers the prospects of the students in a wild fashion rather than providing a viable, judicious and sensible alternative,'' said the NSUI in a statement.

Expressing their apprehension, the students further note that as per the new proposed formula ``the conversion of a 9 CGPA amounts to 100 per cent, that of a 6 CGPA will only be 57.5 per cent. According to simple logic, a grade point of 9 equals 100, when converted to percentage, a grade point of 6 should necessarily be 66 per cent instead of 57.5 per cent. It is shocking to note that a student securing a grade of B only, falls below 55 per cent and hence not eligible to appear for UGC exams or to undertake further research in any university as per listing norms,'' the statement said.

Review sought

The NSUI have now demanded that the new grade conversion system be reviewed and a new system be put in place at the earliest so that the prospects of the students of JNU is not hampered.

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