By Our Reporter
Shillong, Dec 10: Education Minister, Rakkam A Sangma has urged the management of Synod College to help the students who failed to appear the semester examination conducted by NEHU due to non issuance of admit cards.
The education minister however said that he is yet to see the letter submitted to him by one of the students who was denied admit card.
“I think it is the responsibility of the concern college to find a way out to help the affected students. I will advise the college management to reach out to the university and find out what has gone wrong as to why the students did not receive their admit cards,” Sangma told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
The father of one of the affected students, Shanlang Diengdoh has expressed his disappointment to the clarification issued by the principal of Synod College, RM Lyngdoh.
Diengdoh said that it was on the advised of the principal that they had sought admission in the 5th semester even after his daughter could not appear for the fourth semester examination since she did not receive the admit card.
“I am surprise to see that the college management is trying to wash its hand from the issue. We have cleared the college and examination fees as directed by the college authorities. It is not possible for my daughter to get admission in the 5th semester without the approval of the college management since she did not appear the 4th semester examination,” Diengdoh said.
According to him, he is really upset that his daughter has to face such a situation despite being a regular student who stays in the hostel.
“I am sad that the college authorities is doing nothing to help out the students who failed to appear in the examination only because they did not receive their admit cards. I am still confuse how these students did not get their admit cards even after clearing all the fees,” the father said.
Diengdoh asserted that they would like to know who is at fault for the discrepancy whether it is from the college or from the university side.
It may be mentioned that a distressing situation has arisen at Synod College where more than 10 students were not able to sit for their semester exams due to non-issuance of admit cards.
The exams began on November 16 and concluded on December 8.
In a poignant plea to education minister, one of the affected students shed light on the troubling circumstances. The student, a regular attendee since 2021, successfully completed exams up to the third semester in November 2022.
However, when the fourth semester exams in May 2023 approached, they were denied admit cards despite timely payment of fees. The college advised them to proceed with the fifth semester and attempt the fourth semester exams during the sixth semester in 2024 as repeaters.
Despite following the college’s guidance and starting the fifth semester in July this year, the students faced a recurrence of the issue. Once again, they were refused admit cards.
Their appeals to the college authorities yielded unsatisfactory responses, compelling them to seek intervention from the higher authorities.
The students highlighted the substantial financial investments made by their parents towards hostel fees, college fees and other expenses, emphasising the stakes involved in resolving this issue promptly.
The plea to the education minister included comprehensive documentation, encompassing evidence of fee payments for the fourth and fifth semesters, along with a list of affected students, seeking immediate redressal.
Earlier, Synod College Principal, Richard M Lyngdoh had said that the students did not receive the admit cards since they did not register and appear for the fourth-semester examination.
Clarifying that the college has nothing to do with it, he said the names of these students were automatically removed from the portal of NEHU.
According to him, 15 out of the 3,000 students who are appearing for the examination did not receive the admit card.
“Not registering is the fault of the students. The authority lies with NEHU since we are only conducting the final examination,” Lyngdoh said.
He denied that he committed the student in question for admission in the 5th semester as she will be allowed to appear for the 4th semester as a repeater.
“I have no authority to give such an assurance to any student,” he said.
He said that they have made the necessary arrangements for students to register themselves to appear for the examination on the NEHU portal.
“We gave five to six days for the students to register. We sent messages to all students to inform them that they will need to do online registration,” the principal said.