GU gives PG students second chance to ace

By Yogesh Avasthi, Ahmedabad Mirror | Updated: Mar 12, 2017, (http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/gu-gives-pg-students-second-chance-to-ace/articleshow/57609532.cms

If you scored low in your post-graduate examination and thought that your future is ‘andhera’, here’s news that will cheer you up. The Gujarat University is giving postgraduates a chance to upgrade their degree by appearing for exams once more. However, if you opt for this, you better study well as marks received in this examination will be considered final. All you have to do to avail yourself of this scheme is to fill up the examination form, hand back your degree to the university and give an undertaking that the new result will be considered final.
Master of Arts (MA), Master of Commerce (MCom), Master of Science (MSc) or Master of Education (MEd) students from 2010, when GU instituted the semester system, can avail themselves of this scheme. GU incharage Vice- Chancellor Himanshu Pandey said, “The scheme will give students a chance to improve their performance. This is for students who passed the course, but do not get good career opportunity, or chance to study further in a good institute due to their low scores.” GU officials said, “Students fail to score well either due to ill-health, some personal tragedy or even because they did not take studies seriously.

By the time they realize what happened, it is too late. Most government jobs, private companies and institutes of higher studies domestically as well as internationally require more than 55 per cent marks in post-graduate courses. This scheme gives them a second shot at bettering their future,” said the official. Explaining why the scheme has not been extended to those who passed out before 2010, the official explained, “The syllabus for all these courses were changed when the semester system was introduced. It will not be feasible to take exams as per the old format.”

Student has to take an exam for all subjects

Interestingly, the re-exam is not restricted to just the final semester. “The marks of all semesters are counted in the final result. Some students score well in all except one semester which brings down the overall total. Now, if a student has not done well in the second semester, he just needs to appear for all subjects in the second semester as an external student, and boost his score. The varsity will change his result accordingly,” said officials, adding, “A student can avail of this scheme only once, and only for one semester.”

An MSc student who passed out in 2013 told Mirror, “I underpeformed in my fourth semester. This hurt my job prospects. When I came to know of the varsity’s decision to give post-graduatess a second chance, I promptly surrendered my marksheet and began preparing for my exam. I plan to do better this time.” Academician R S Patel said, “The Degree Upgradation Scheme will benefit students a lot. Several universities abroad offer this facility to students. North Gujarat University, South Gujarat University, Bombay University, SNDT University, Delhi University, JNU, University of Calcutta and other universities here too offer this.”
GU dean B V Patel said the university had been mulling over this proposal for a long time but finally implemented it in November. “It will help students change their future,” he said. Former Vice-Chancellor M N Patel who introduced the scheme said, “Everyone deserves a second chance in life. Mistakes made in one’s youth should not mar one’s entire life.”