Sterlite protests affect engg exams: Attendance comes down to less than 5 per cent
Chennai: Due to lack of transport facilities and the imposition of prohibitory orders in Thoothukudi district following the anti-Sterlite protests, less than 5 per cent of students only were able to attend engineering exams conducted on Wednesday and Thursday .
Owing to the circumstances, the Anna University has postponed three exams scheduled to be held in the course of next four days.
“Due to the unforeseen circumstances, the examinations scheduled on May 25, 26 and 28 for all the affiliated colleges are postponed. However, all the examinations scheduled from May 29 will as per the schedule,” M.Venkatesan, Controller of Examinations (i/c), Anna University announced on Thursday.
The first year B.E., B.Tech exams have begun on May 19. For UG students, technical English exam was conducted on Wednesday.
For PG students, the examinations for M.E., M.Tech and M.Arch subjects were held in the last two days.
There are nine engineering colleges in Thoothukudi district and over 3000 students are writing exams in these colleges.
“Students had faced issues in reaching the exam centres as buses were not plying in many parts of the district. Over the last two days, less than 5 per cent students appeared for the exam. Hence, we have decided to postpone the exams,” officials said.
After the exam, the exam officials needed to upload the data to the portal. Due to the suspension of internet services, the engineering colleges in three districts - Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari could not upload the data after the exams.
“We could have handed over the data on paper. But, the students’ mobility was affected,” an official from Anna University's regional centre in Tirunelveli said.
“The exams are being conducted statewide. So it has to be rescheduled for the entire state,” a private college principal said.
Already, the semester exams scheduled to be conducted on May 19 was rescheduled to June 1 due to the clash with the Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (Tancet).
