Shillong, July 10: The conglomeration of NGOs, Civil Societies and students union wishes to express our concern for the future of the students whose academic careers could be disrupted due to the ongoing problem of incorrect data entry into their mark sheets by the North Eastern Hills University.
The NGOs said that they have received several real problems have come to the fore as has been communicated to them by parents and students. Based on the fact that many of the student problems are Tura centric a good contemplation on the matter is highly required and at the earliest.
The NGOs do understand that NEHU is not fully functional due to the pandemic and they are at 30% working capacity. But we have been receiving numerous complaints from parents and incessant calls from students across Garo Hills detailing the various problems they are facing or will face.
The NGos they have been in contact at least with the Principal of Tura Govt. College regarding the problems of the students and have been sharing information so as not to create panic. But as has been eluded, they have heard that the 15th Jul’21 is the last date for the submission by the colleges to NEHU to rectify the mistakes through remedial measures.
But either there is a miscommunication or negligence on the part of the parties involved but which an insinuation it is since they are not privy to some information because some mark sheets of the students have been corrected while some are still not corrected.
The common complaints of the degree students are, That they have appeared for the exams either online or offline and have submitted the hard copy of the written exams and have finished their internal assessment but in the mark sheet it was marked absent.
NEHU has issued admit/ admission cards with wrong subjects and that many students have appeared for the exam of their respective correct subjects and have fulfilled the requirements but they were marked absent.
Another intriguing complaint is somehow many students have been invalidated; the obvious question is on what grounds.
Some students complain that it appears they have failed their exams but the interesting thing is marks for exams and the respective IA marks across subjects were the same making the whole thing contentious and adds a pinch of doubt.
Another complaint was that admissions to the master’s degree could be declared and if they still have the mark sheet problem which declared them absent how should they react to the situation.
Still another problem is the fact that filling up of forms have been declared and ongoing, the final year degree students who have cleared their entire semesters except for the papers which have been marked absent presents a problem.
The obvious question is after filling up the forms if they have successfully cleared their exams on corrections by NEHU, will their fees be given back. The same problem is also expressed by students from different semesters.
This problem seems to be maximised in Tura as the maximum number of students who complained have identified themselves as students of various colleges in Tura especially Tura Govt. College. Students from other districts of Garo Hills have also called citing various problems and reasons pertaining to the problems extrapolated above from student complaints.
Since the pandemic, complaints from students have been growing and though the problem can be solved the desperation of the students can be gauged from their distraught calls for help. But it still is perplexing how these problems have not occurred in different parts of Meghalaya but only in some colleges of Garo Hills.
The NGOs has bring to the notice of the Meghalaya Govt. that the appointment of Vice-Principal to the Higher Secondary is pending and since it does not require extra financial expenditure this matter could be acted upon quickly.
Since 15th July 2021 has been declared as the last date of submission of list of complaints from the students for rectification of mistakes committed we urge the Principals of all the colleges to carefully solve the problem lest the students get into a messy situation though not at fault.
The situation is a powder keg waiting to explode and we will have to start an action of our own if called for and make our protests clear to highlight the objective that the future of the students must not be messed around with.
The NGOs make their appeal known to the Meghalaya Government and NEHU with hopes that the necessary corrective measures are taken which will be for the benefit of the students, said Mr Tengsak G Momin President of the GSU.
