Trigger alarm: Over 40% students in 9 of 16 engineering streams at West Bengal's Jadavpur University (JU) get 'backlog'; poor attendance & delayed results blamed

KOLKATA: More than 40% students in nine out of 16 engineering streams at Jadavpur University have failed in some paper or the other, an internal survey found. Civil engineering topped the list with 75% students having backlogs, followed by electrical engineering (68%) and metallurgical and material engineering (61%).The engineering faculty at JU is considered to be the state's best, and backlogs had triggered an alarm on the campus, prompting the university to form a committee in May last year to inspect the high rate of failure among UG engineering students. Most of the other premier engineering institutes in Bengal, like Shibpur's Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology and Durgapur's National Institute of Technology, are administered by Centre and not the state.

The committee, comprising teachers and student representatives, surveyed 1,052 students and 137 teachers and submitted its findings recently.

At least 150 current 4th-year engineering students failed in different subjects - mostly theory papers - during their programme, with some carrying as many as 15 backlogs, said sources. "The increasing number of students failing in different subjects prompted us to form a committee and conduct a survey so that we could figure out the reasons and take measures.

This has an impact on placement as well," said an official.The report pointed out that a majority of teachers felt poor attendance in classes was affecting students' performance. Of 65 students in a class, on an average only 20 to 25 students turned up for theory classes, they said. Most faculty members suggested marks should be allocated for attendance, said sources. The report also identified problems with the academic calendar, including delays in publishing semester results and managing supplementary tests with regular exams.'Increase in student apathy towards theory classes' Civil engineering professor Partha Bhattacharya said: "Students' tendency to skip theory classes has led to their inability to cope with the curriculum, resulting in loss of interest and failures. While attendance rules exist, they aren't strictly enforced. Additionally, the general quality of students has declined with many students going for national institutes."JU alumnus and former electrical engineering professor Saswati Mazumdar said, "Student apathy toward theory classes has increased significantly post-pandemic, contributing to the high backlog rates."Electrical engineering associate professor Arindam Sil said the disorganised academic calendar was a major issue. "Due to delayed counselling by the WBJEE Board, our sessions start in Oct or Nov, while central institutes start classes begin in Aug.

First-year students face enormous pressure. With such a heavy course load, they fail in certain subjects," he said.Students said semester results are often published late, sometimes in the middle or end of next semester. "Students get to know of their previous backlog almost at the end of the current semester. This delay creates difficulties in managing supplementary exams while keeping up with current semester studies," a student said.