De-registration rule helps check rampant bunking at IIT-B
A strict penalty to de-register IIT Bombay students who bunk classes
at the beginning of a semester has brought down first week absenteeism
from over 70 to a little over five in less than two years.
Taking serious cognisance of absenteeism in the beginning of a
semester, the institute had decided in 2011 that it will be mandatory
for students to attend classes during the first week of a semester. The
penalty for non-compliance, said IIT Bombay, could be de-registration
from the semester. The institute further said that only genuine cases
would be exempt, allowing for medical emergencies or family problems.
"The first two to three weeks of instruction at the beginning of
any semester are crucial for understanding a course. Missing out on such
classes affects the overall performance. Thus, it was important to
introduce this measure. After the rule was first implemented, students
were caught unaware and over 70 were called to explain their absence.
Although 10 were selected for de-registration, we let them off
with a warning as it was the first year. In January 2012, we
de-registered over 30 students," said professor Shiva Prasad, dean of
academic programmes, IIT Bombay. In July 2012, the number went down to
five. "The feedback we received from faculty members shows that the rule
is working and there has been full attendance in the first week," he
said.
The institute has further modified the regulations. According to
the previous norm, students were de-registered from all the courses in
that particular semester. "Now a student will only be de-registered from
those courses where he/she has missed his/her classes," said Prasad.
The faculty may also decide if they should penalise a student for
missing out on later classes by either reducing their marks or by
making them drop that particular course. According to IIT Bombay
authorities, the rule helped "discipline" the students. "We often found
that students would skip classes to work for institute festivals or
because they were not interested in a subject. But the strict punishment
of de-registration has helped check rampant bunking of classes," said a
senior faculty member.
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