Another varsity exam error: MA paper adds up to 80 marks, not 100

MUMBAI: In yet another goof-up in Mumbai University’s ongoing examinations, students who appeared for their MA (Political Science) paper on Friday were shocked to find the questions did not add up to 100 marks.
The students were a part of Mumbai University’s Institute of Distant and Open Learning (IDOL). The Foreign Policy paper had eight questions, of 20 marks each.According to instructions on the paper, students were expected to answer only four questions, which would have totalled 80 marks.
“We were not sure whether the error was in the instructions or the marks mentioned. We informed the invigilator who said he would inform the university. However, no clarification came in during the exam,” said a student who sat for it at National College, Bandra.
The students did not know whether to attempt the fifth question. “I took the risk and answered only four questions but a few students wrote five answers to be safe,” said the student.
Another said the invigilator instructed them to go ahead based on past papers. “Writing five answers would be impossible as there isn’t enough time to answer even four. So when we asked the supervisor, he told us to follow the past pattern. In all the past papers that I had seen, students were expected to answer four questions worth 25 marks each,” said a student.
While a university official said it could be a printing error and that each question was worth 25 marks, controller of examination Dinesh Bhonde said, “I can’t comment as I haven't received a complaint from any student. However, we will ask the subject committee to look into the matter.”
IDOL students whose centre was in a Virar college faced another hurdle as their roll numbers weren’t mentioned in college notice board. The college later provided them the seats but the paper, International Politics, was handed around 10 minutes late. A student said, “We were very anxious but the college was very cooperative. They said the university had sent the papers late.”