University denies MBBS students' request for exam evaluation change

A group of MBBS students from the RS 3 batch at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bengaluru is unhappy after their request to change the evaluation method for their August 2024 exam was denied. The students planned to hold a hunger strike last Thursday but were met by police at the campus for security. The university evaluates exam papers by having four different evaluators score each one, with the final score being the average. Some students claimed this system led to wide discrepancies. They noted that one evaluator might give a low score, while another might provide a high score for the same paper. This inconsistency often led to students failing due to a single low score affecting the overall average. The students requested that the university apply a new evaluation method, which uses the best score from two evaluators, to their August 2024 results. While the university promised that future exams would follow this new pattern, officials stated that they could not apply the change retroactively. They emphasized that previous decisions cannot be altered without setting a troublesome precedent. University officials explained that the students had previously raised concerns about the repeated exam fees they were being charged. They reassured the students that their demands had been largely addressed and that a committee had carefully reviewed the situation. The committee concluded they could not accept the request for retrospective changes. Currently, around 1,040 students are affected by this decision. They will have to sit for supplementary exams starting on April 7.