Mumbai University exams clash with Diwali vacation. Teachers upset.

The fifth semester TYBcom examination of the Mumbai University is clashing with the Diwali vacation. Teachers seem to be very upset and raise war against it.

Principals, who are not sure of co-operation from teachers, decided to meet the university officials regarding the same.

The exams are scheduled from Monday. Teachers are being upset for the examinations scheduled between Nov 01 and 23. Around 65,000 candidates are appearing for the TYBcom exams at 250 centres.

The university has shifted the TYBcom rural marketing exam from October 31 to November 7, 2013. As the evaluation process must be completed within 15 days after the examination, teachers might need to work throughout Diwali vacation.

Moreover, few other undergraduate and postgraduate exams are also scheduled in the same time i.e. during Diwali vacation. In case teachers do not co-operate then, results of these examinations will be affected.

A principal who spoke to the media regarding the same said, "We don't know how to handle this situation if teachers refuse to co-operate. Also, most of them have already planned for their vacations. But under the new rules, all colleges should endure by the exam and assessment task given by the university."

The three week long vacation was approved for the Diwali festival. But now, this vacation has become an argument as it is mandatory for the university to conduct two semester exams, instead of one. And this system is applicable for all final year students.

Union president R Sadasivan said, "Not all teachers go out of town. I hope colleges can manage with those available. However, the union will fully protect teachers' rights if the university or colleges force them to work in vacation."

University examination controller Padma Deshmukh said, "The dates of some of the BA papers that include History of Marathi Literature and Rural Marketing has been changed from November 18 to 23 and November 21 to Dec 7, respectively."

Also, for M.Sc Part-I (Physics) papers have been postponed by three weeks, as students requested for more time, to prepare for exams, she said.

Moreover, some M.Com papers are also clashing with CA examinations but, the exam house has not received any kind of representation or request from students. So, in this case the responsibility to change the dates goes to the board of examinations, she added.