Cancellation of Arrear Exams Against the AICTE Guidelines, Council Informs Madras HC

Tamil Nadu government’s decision on cancellation of arrear exams for engineering students is not in the guidelines, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) informed Madras High Court.

Tamil Nadu government has announced to cancel the arrear exams of all the college students except final years because of the delay caused due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. The final year students were announced to prepare for their arrear exams.

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A petition was filed by E Balaguruswamy, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University stating that the government’s decision to cancel arrear exams and to give marks to students as per the established norms is illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory and against the principle of natural justice.

The AICTE files an affidavit responding to a public interest litigation petition filed by former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, E Balaguruswamy, and advocate Ramkumar Aditiyan.

In the affidavit, AICTE clearly states that the decision of the Government to declare all the students passed without assessment and way of examination is completely against the AICTE Act. Read More

“The Council has not exempted students from appearing for examinations or allowed them to move to next year without being assessed by exams. A degree cannot be awarded to a student who has failed to clear arrears. This is not acceptable to the industry too.” M. Sundresan, AICTE’s south regional officer said to a reputed media portal. 

He also stated that only UGC has allowed students to be promoted to next year without attempting examination because of COVID 19 pandemic that too only to continue studies through online classes. Passing all the students who have paid their arrear fees is against the guidelines of the AICTE. 

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Earlier, Anil Saharasrabuddhe, Chairperson of AICTE also indicated that there will be no cancellation of arrear exams for TN Engineering students. He also mentioned that the dates for the arrear examination will be released soon on the official website.