Around 35,000 students of Mumbai University were wrongly failed in 2017 examinations, reveals RTI query

Almost 36 percent of Mumbai University (MU) students were wrongly failed in the exams conducted in 2017, an RTI inquiry revealed on Wednesday. Around 35,000 students of the 97,000 who applied for re-evaluation passed the exams after the reassessment. “Students taking MU exams are losing faith in the process of assessment,” RTI activist Vihar Durve said, according to a report by The Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_5396691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Mumbai University. PTI[/caption] The report said, “A total of 97,313 applicants filed for re-evaluation, perhaps the largest student cohort in recent history, reflecting the fact that large numbers of candidates have begun to lose trust in the university’s assessment process.” Earlier in October, Hindustan Times reported that in the duration between April 2014 and August 2016, one in three students had been wrongly failed in the varsity’s exams. The reply to an RTI query had revealed that over 2 lakh students had applied for re-evaluation, and 73,000 of those students passed after the process. Durve, in the Hindustan Times report on 3 October, said, “There is no form of refund given to students who were wrongly failed, nor are teachers being punished. How will this ever end?” According to reports, no action has been taken by the university against the teachers or examiners who have made mistakes. On Wednesday, Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police arrested three people in connection with tampering the answer sheets of Mumbai University exams that were held in October 2018. The Indian Express reported that the incident was reported to the police after the head of the department (HoD) received an anonymous letter with details of the scam. The police registered the case and arrested two institute officials and a student. The report quoted an officer as saying, “After registering the case, the police officials started scrutinising the CCTV footage, following which we could see the three loitering in the room after college hours.” After interrogations, the institute officials admitted to the crime and described the role of the third accused. With inputs from agencies