Tribhuvan University Exam System Faces Criticism for Delays

Kathmandu. The academic future of thousands of undergraduate students has been thrown into uncertainty due to the unnatural delay and administrative apathy in Tribhuvan University's (TU) examination system. Students are suffering because the partial examination for the three-year BA first year, which was supposed to be completed within 2082 BS, was conducted only in Jestha 2083 BS.

Students have demanded that the results be published by the upcoming Shrawan 15th under any circumstances, as it has been a month and a half since the examination ended without a clear outcome for the results. Students say that the Examination Controller's Office (ICO) should not be complacent with a 90-day deadline.

Students had filled out the examination form for the BA first year under the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty in Bhadra and Kartik of 2082 BS. However, only 9 months after filling out the form, TU Examination Controller's Office (ICO), Balkhu, published the examination schedule on Jestha 3, 2083 BS. The examination started on Jestha 18, 45 days after the schedule was published, and concluded on Jestha 27.

A total of 2,430 examinees, including both partial and chance groups, participated in the examination. Although TU conducted the examinations for both groups under the same date, time, and examination system, student Utsav Khadka alleges that the Examination Controller's Office is trying to evade responsibility by interpreting it solely as a chance examination. 'The university cannot ignore the delay in the time taken since the form was filled,' Khadka said.

Examination Controller Laxman Paudel stated that since the examination was for chance and partial students and the workload was high, the results might be published by Bhadra if not possible in Shrawan. 'The examinations for partial and chance students have been conducted on the same date and time.

In such a situation, it is not acceptable to dismiss the entire examination as merely a chance examination and shirk responsibility. The nature and definition of partial and chance examinations must first be clarified, and then the actual facts should be made public,' Khadka said. 

Student Yograj Dahal, sharply criticizing the delay of TU's Examination Controller's Office, said that the university has become insensitive to the future of the students. 'The family members who got married and started a household at the time of filling the form have even had a new child who is 2 months old. But students who filled the form on the same day have not even seen the face of the result after taking the exam,' Dahal sarcastically said, 'One generation was born there, and here TU's result is still in the womb.'

According to Dahal, students who are waiting for the results of only one or two subjects to complete their undergraduate level are currently unable to apply for postgraduate studies or entrance examinations for LLB programs in various universities due to the results. 'The office cannot delay the publication of results by adding the time it has lost onto the students. The delayed time should be reduced, and the results should be published with priority,' Dahal added.

Students have demanded a specific date for the publication of results from the Examination Controller's Office, not just general assurances. Rohit Yadav, the student union chairman of Mahendra Morang Campus, demanded that a transparent work schedule including the status of answer sheet evaluation, marks entry, verification process, and the probable date of result publication should be issued, and the BA first-year results should be published immediately with special priority.

'The Examination Controller's Office is not a place to hold back students' time; it is a responsible institution that evaluates their hard work and opens the path to their future. Now TU must provide a clear answer. Is the Examination Controller's Office publishing the results, or is it preparing to make students wait for the next generation?' Yadav questioned, 'The examination management system that takes more than 45 days to publish the results of 2,430 students shows how incompetent the ICO Balkhu is.'