Mumbai: Guard made to supervise MSc exam, says student

An onduty security guard at Mumbai Universityrsquos Kalyan subcentre was made to supervise an MSc exam on December 30 Sources claim that there was no shortage of teachers and coordinators who could have supervised the exam on that dayAccording to a zoology oceanography student who sat for the developmental biology paper the director of the subcentre Adwait M Vaidya had asked an onduty security guard to supervise the examineesldquoI found something amiss so after the exam I asked around and found out the man who served as the invigilator was Kisan Kangne a security guard I got to know that the man is educated One of the staff even told me that nothing wrong had taken place I was completely shocked by thisrdquo a student saidAdwait Vaidya director of the subcentreA total of two students appeared for the examAlso Read Mumbai Four years on MMRDA still preparing MU campus master planWhen contacted Vaidya told midday ldquoThe minimum qualification needed for a person to be an invigilator is graduation Also only two students appeared for the exam that day To the best of my knowledge the person Kangne was not on duty that day Our concern was to conduct the exam and on timerdquoHowever according to sources Kangne was on duty at the timeThe incident has raised eyebrows in academic circles with academicians stating that despite the minimum qualification for invigilation an onduty guard cannot be asked to supervise an examldquoIn the 1970s university professors and teachers did not take up the task of invigilation However university authorities realised engaging outsiders as invigilators comes with inherent concerns After several discussions teachers volunteered to do invigilation Whether there were five two or even one student as per the rules making an onduty security guard do invigilation is wrong and this is not about his education or qualification This is about the rulesrdquo said a staff member of the MU Thane subcentreDr Subhash Athavale general secretary of Mumbai University and College Teachers Association MUCTA said ldquoThe task of an invigilator is to ensure fair conduction of examination Although an exam supervisorrsquos job appears straightforward and simple there are many things that need to be taken into consideration Without seasoned supervisors an institution cannot administer a fair exam They can at the most include administrative staff like clerks in the absence of a teacher Action should be taken against the person who made an onduty security guard an invigilatorG B Raje president of Bombay University and College Teachersrsquo Union BUCTU said ldquoThe minimum qualification required to be an invigilator is graduation However in case there was a shortage of requisite invigilators or staff at the centre they could have called in for graduate students of the staff of nearby collegesmdashan option many colleges opt for in case of a shortage of invigilators Making an onduty security guard take up an invigilatorrsquos task is wrongrdquoAn official from Mumbai University said no such case had been reported and the matter would be looked into30Day in December 2022 when exam was held