Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has expressed strong disapproval of the attendance regulations imposed by the Department of Technical Education and autonomous universities, stating that solely considering attendance percentage for allowing students to write exams is questionable.
The court highlighted the “unfortunate irony” of allowing students who fail a semester to appear for the next, while disallowing those with low attendance due to health reasons.
Student challeges engineering college
Justice K Sarath, presiding over a petition filed by K Manvitha, a B.Tech third-year student, observed that to enhance educational quality, not just attendance but also the student’s merit should be taken into account.
Manvitha had challenged the decision of Geethanjali College of Engineering and Technology (Autonomous) in Medchal-Malkajgiri to bar her from appearing for her 3rd-year, 2nd-semester exams due to low attendance.
Student was hospitalised, underwent two surgeries
Advocate T Srikanth Reddy, representing the petitioner, argued that Manvitha was hospitalised and underwent two surgeries during her third year of study due to illness. Despite submitting all medical records, she was denied permission to write the exams solely on the grounds of low attendance. He further stated that her attendance in previous semesters was good and she had no backlogs.
In response, the lawyers for the respondents contended that, as per technical education regulations, 65 percent to 75 percent attendance is required, while the petitioner only had 49.5 percent.
After hearing both sides, Justice Sarath instructed Geethanjali Engineering College to permit the student to appear for her exams and facilitate her completion of the course.
