Unlimited ATKTs no more

By Yogesh Avasthi, Ahmedabad Mirror | March 7, 2016, http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/Unlimited-ATKTs-no-more/articleshow/51280967.cms

Students of Gujarat University will soon have to take their semester exam more seriously, for the university is planning to overhaul its 'allowed to keep terms' (ATKT) system. According to the new rule, which is to be implemented from the new academic year, students will have to clear the ATKT backlogs in the alternate semester. ATKT is a process to allow students of pre-graduation and graduation to progress to next grade if they have failed between one and four subjects.
A university source said, "Once the new system is implemented, students who have failed in a few subjects in semester 1 will have to clear it by the time they are in semester 3 or they will not be promoted to semester 4. This will be applicable for ATKTs of all semesters." Responding to the carry forward problem of semester system, GU had formed a five member committee to look into the matter. Top GU official said that the committee is all for changing the prevailing system. The new rule is all set to be implemented from the upcoming academic session, said GU officials.

A GU official said, "The semester system was introduced in 2011-12 to make students' lives easier. But it turned out to be the other way round. The carry forward system of semester system was proving to be very difficult." According to the students, the odd and even rule has made their lives hell. A student of HK Commerce College studying in sixth semester who has eight ATKT subjects to clear said, "All the odd semester exams (1, 3, 5) are conducted at the same time. Same is the case with even semesters. So, when we have ATKTs in more than two semesters, there is a clash of exam dates. Even if we want to, we are not able to clear at least one ATKT."

Currently, the carry forward system, which allows students to keep term till the last semester, has become a headache for the university, colleges, students and teachers. "As per the prevailing system, students were allowed to go up till sixth semester even if they had failed to clear ATKTs of the first semester. So, students kept accumulating ATKTs. The real problem occurred in semester six when students have to clear six subjects of the current semester and the additional subjects from all the ATKTs they had accumulated in the previous semesters. It becomes unmanageable for the students and they drop out of colleges," said the GU official.

The consequence was several students dropped out of the course. "To eliminate this fallacy, GU is bringing in this new rule," GU source said. Principal of RH Patel College Dr S N Iyer said, "The biggest minus point of the prevailing system is that students don't take exams seriously. They think they will clear the backlog in the next semester. But, ATKTs keep getting accumulated, till they realize that it has become unmanageable. Then they drop out." According to sources, inability to clear ATKT backlogs has forced almost 15 to 20 per cent students to drop out of colleges.

Principal of H K Commerce College, Gopal Bhatt said, "The prevailing method of carrying forward subjects is seriously flawed. The biggest problem is that by sixth semester students come under huge stress as they have too many subjects to clear. " Asemester 5 student from RH Patel, who has seven ATKT subjects to clear, said, "This will be my last attempt. If I fail to clear all the subjects, then fine. But if I fail, I will quit studies." Saurabh Chokshi, principal of JG College, said, "Students do not take exams seriously right now.

The new system will ensure that they study in time and are not under pressure. GU VC Dr M N Patel confirmed that the new rule will be implemented in the next academic year. He said, "The carry forward method was proving to be a burden for the students. We wanted to change that. So, we had formed a five-member committee some time back to look into this issue. Every year around 45,000 students take admissions in the commerce stream, out of which 37,000 usually clear."

The committee consisted of Sabarmati Arts and Commerce College Principal Jayvasntsinh Sarvaiya, JG College Principal Saurabh Choksi, S N Iyer, HK Arts College Principal Subhash Brahmbhatt and LD Arts College Principal Mahipatsinh Chavda. "They have submitted their report. They have recommended removal of carry forward system. In other words, as per the new rule, if a student does not clear his failures of semester 1by semester 3, he/she can't go beyond semester 3. Similarly, students have to clear their failures of semester 2 by semester 4, of semester 3 by semester 5 and of semester 4 by semester 6," Patel added. The committee has also sugested remedial exams to help students clear ATKT backlog.