Kashmir Varsity To Have Two Academic Terms This Year

Srinagar: To streamline academics that have been suffering for the last few years, the University of Kashmir has decided to hold admissions twice this year i.e. in April and September.

Officials, however, have warned that the “experiment” might not prove fruitful for the university.

According to the officials, classes for the first session are starting in April while the admissions and classes for another session will begin in September. The officials said the April admissions would prove fruitful for the students who were dropped last year.

“Last year, the admissions in the university started late because of the delay in the final-year undergraduate exams. It led to a chaos, so this year we want to give the dropouts a chance,” said a university official.

Last year, the KU admissions started in September and a majority of students who passed in the session were dropped out and could not secure admission anywhere in the country.

KU Registrar Nisar Ahmad Mir said they want to give a chance to the students who were dropped out last year due to certain circumstances.

“This year, we will hold admissions twice. Last year, a majority of the students couldn’t be accommodated,” Mir added.

While the officials warned that the move had been taken without consulting the heads of departments of various streams, they said it could burden the university as it lacks the infrastructure to manage the situation.

“The move will affect studies and also create double burden on the faculty,” said a KU Professor.

In 2017, the university had started evening shift to accommodate more students but the exercise was stopped later due to its failure to meet the demands of both the batches.

The Registrar, however, said the step was being taken this year only till the admissions were streamlined again.

“The move aimed at streamlining the admissions and exams is for the current year only. Hopefully, we’ll be back to holding a single session from March next year.”

Pertinently, the KU admission session was deferred from March to September during the past few years due to the delay in the completion of the undergraduate degree in the colleges where the semester system was introduced in 2015 under the UGC guidelines.

Moreover, the semester exams used to get postponed due to the Valley tension, which further delayed the overall academic calendar of the university. (The Tribune)