Thiruvananthapuram: Our country is a paragon of democracy. We see various political stunts going on in our country and we can be a part of them. But should students suffer from these political movements or stunts? Should these movements take precedence over a student's career?

Exams at the Kalam Technological University (KTU) here were scheduled to start on December 11 of 2018. But then the KTU students saw a saga of changing timetables and rescheduling of the exams. All started with a hartal in certain areas of the state on 11th of December 2018 which forced exams to be rescheduled to 18th of January 2019.

Again, a state-wide strike on December 14, 2018 became the cause of postponing exams to January. There were no exams scheduled between December 21 to 31 due to Christmas and seasonal vacations. Exams were supposed to continue from the 1st day of the new year but the 'Vanitha Mathil' or the 'Women Wall' on that day made it impossible, forcing yet another reschedule of exams to the 14th of January 2019. Another unexpected state-wide harthal on 3rd January opened the gate for further postponing and the new date is yet to be announced. Meanwhile, the two-day nationwide general strike (Bharath Bandh) on January 8 and 9 pushed the exams on these days to the end of this month. Considering the current situation , it's hard to expect a smooth conduction of the remaining examinations.

How it affects students?

Even though the all exams will be conducted somehow, the delay will definitely affect the academic calendar. A new semester would begin later than actually planned. This also causes a fine shortage of time in the semester. Professors will find it hard to finish syllabus portions between the various events and programs organized at college and university level. The students may have to attend special tuitions on weekends and holidays, annoying hostlers, too. Cramming up the syllabus would be unavoidable during the next end semester exams.

Students have to attend internships which is an integral part of B-tech degree and other company-organized workshop classes. They usually do these during semester breaks and weekend holidays. But now, due to continuous postponing of exams, the semester breaks are out of the question, and students are unable to find time for internships.

Moreover, the exam results would be delayed, further lagging the re-evaluation results and supplementary exams.

The case is not just regarding KTU, students from other universities in the state are also facing a similar situation.