Chennai: In the first exam after the introduction of minimum pass marks under Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), the pass percentage of students from prestigious four campuses of Anna University has gone down to 50 per cent in the third semester.
Earlier, the Anna University had introduced a minimum pass mark of 50 per cent under the relative grading system which was introduced along with CBCS to improve the academic standards at the university departments.
The additional controller of examinations in Anna University declared the odd semester (3,5 and 7) exams results on Monday. The cream of students who have joined with the College of Engineering, Guindy, Alagappa College of Technology, Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) and the School of Architecture and Planning fared poorly in the third semester exams. Apart from MIT, other campuses registered less than 50 per cent pass in November/ December 2017 exams.
Out of 1,192 students from CEG campus, only 553 of them cleared the third semester registering 46.39 per cent pass. In Alagappa College of Technology of 484 students only 217 have cleared (44.83 per cent) and in MIT campus, of 815 students only 423 have cleared the exam (51.9%). The School of Architecture and Planning students registered the least pass percentage with only 19.82 per cent clearing the exam.
During the previous year, third-semester students have achieved around 80 per cent pass percentage under a relative grading system which had no minimum pass marks.
“The minimum pass marks have definitely affected the semester results. Students have not adapted to the minimum pass marks under the CBCS and relative grading system. Their performance will surely improve in the coming semesters,” said Professor S.Srinivasalu, additional Controller of Examinations, University Departments, Anna University.
He also said the fifth-semester students have performed well in the exams. The fifth-semester students have recorded above 64 per cent. But SAP students fared poorly even in the fifth-semester exam as only 16 per cent of students have passed the exam out of 123 students.Some professors said that the third-semester results will be less always as the students appear for the exam in their relevant branches. “The unfamiliarity of topics makes it hard for them,” they said.
The seventh-semester students who wrote the exam under non-CBCS system has gotten better results with above 81% of students passing the exam.
One of the senior faculty members at Anna University, said while improving the quality of education we should not mind the pass percentage going little down. “Earlier, when the pass percentage was only around 50 to 60 the university has produced quality engineers,” he said.
The special arrear exam under the CBCS method will be conducted in February.
Along with the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), the university has introduced the relative grading system for the students at four university departments, including the College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chrompet in 2015-16.
Under the relative grading, the pass mark was not a fixed one. The students will be awarded the grades based on the collective performance of the class.
While the pass percentage of the students have improved significantly under the new system in the last two years, the professors have complained that the standard has gone down. There were also complaints that some students outsmarted the relative grading system by joining hands with other students.
