Kerala University ticks off officials on delay in results

Thiruvananthapuram: The cold war between a section of officials of the Kerala University and  some syndicate members has reached a flash point.  The next syndicate meeting  to be held in the first week of May will  discuss the disciplinary action against senior officials of the university for allegedly delaying the publication of results.

The syndicate,  on the basis of a report by a sub-committee,  had sought an explanation from 13 senior officials,  including controller of examinations K. Madhu Kumar, joint registrar in charge of examinations, four deputy registrars and seven section officers for the delay.

The decision was taken on the basis of an inquiry report placed before the syndicate by a sub-committee convened  by  M. Sreekumar, which included M. Jeevanlal, Jyothi Kumar Chamakala and A.A. Rahim. However,  Chamakala did not  attend  the meeting due to personal inconvenience.

The decision to seek an explanation from these officials has triggered a controversy. A section of officials had opposed the decision saying that teachers who were responsible for delaying   the valuation were left out and that the blame was put entirely on the staff.

However, sources said that the differences of opinion between various sections within the university office was  one of the reasons for the delay. Even top officials of the university could not settle the disputes between the sections, sources said.

The sub-committee had found that there had been a delay of seven months in constituting the valuation camps for the first semester CBCSS (choice-based credit and semester system) examinations.

They also alleged lapses in the deployment of teachers for the camps, false numbering of answer sheets and delivery of answer scripts to the respective valuation centres.

The controller of examination was also directed to speed up the pending revaluation of answer sheets and submit an action-taken report within 15 days.

Though the issue of delay had come up before the syndicate many times in the past, they could not take any steps to curb it. The syndicate had even decided to revamp its examination and evaluation system.

The feasibility of extending automation to various stages of the examination process had also been discussed in the past. It has  been pointed out that the university did not have integrated software for examination-related works like tabulation, registration and publication of results.