Mumbai University earns whopping 11 Crores In 3 Years Through Exam Reassessment

Over thousands of students (both regular and distant learning) appear for their exams from Mumbai every year. If a student is confident that his paper went well yet fails in an exam he can opt for reevaluation. However, like everything else in this world, that too comes at a cost. The revaluation for each subject costs ₹500 per paper and to obtain a photocopy of the same, a student will have to shell out an extra ₹100. 

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In a recent Right To Information (RTI) that was filed by activist Vihar Durve, it came to light that Mumbai University has earned a staggering ₹11 crores from reassessment of papers in the period of 3 years i.e. from the academic year 2016-2019. According to the data, it is out of every 5 students, 1 student applies for reassessment and over 30 per cent benefit from it. Following is the complete bifurcation of the revenue: 

The revaluation result takes over 4 months to be declared which causes a lot of issues for students who apply for further studies in other institutions or abroad. Taking into note the final result, over 99 per cent of student's marks are increased and only 1 per cent of student's marks are decreased.  On the condition of anonymity, a student from MU who is pursuing her Masters in Literature said,

If the student gets more marks after revaluation it is clear that it was the teacher's fault in correcting the paper, then why should students pay such high fees for no fault of theirs? It's like students are paying examiners for getting their job done right in the first place. Moreover, the difference is not just of 1 marks or 2, there's always a huge gap in the scores before and after revaluation, almost to a point that a student can either be passed or failed. I had applied for the photocopy of my paper, one mandatory question which I had answered wasn't even checked and no were marks were given for the same. Instead, Not Responded (NR) was written in front of it. The complaints about the same have also fallen on deaf ears. 

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Another law student shared her views on the revaluation saying, 

The teachers should be held responsible and the University should have accountability. The student should get a refund if his marks increases after revaluation, only then it will be fair. 

On the contrary, a Head of Department from the University said, 

 There is no provision for refund in the University Act, also, if we start giving refunds then professors will deliberately fail the students which will help them in earning an extra side income.  

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All this comes in lieu when Mumbai University released their new attire for the convocation where they will now opt for a peshwai outfit for students. Moreover, its one of the oldest universities in the country and is still struggling to get a University Grants Commission (UGC) recognition. 

Notably, the UGC is a statutory body set up by the Indian Union Government in accordance to the UGC Act 1956[1] under Ministry of Human Resource Development and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education. It provides recognition to universities in India, and disbursements of funds to such recognised universities and colleges.

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