Days after protest by hundreds of engineering students in Hyderabad over their detention due to lack of credits, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H) has buckled in  to their demands by allowing them to appear for the advanced supplementary exams.

There are a total of 12,244 BTech students who have been  detained in the first year due to poor credits. Massive protests were held by the students in front of the university main gate on August 8, 2016 with the police resorting to lathi-charge to disburse the agitated group.

With the university introducing semester-system from the 2016-17 academic  year, those who failed to obtain a minimum of 50% credits in the year-wise system were detained by the university in first year itself. However, students charged that the university did not inform them about the changed rules.

Considering the future of thousands of students, the standing committee of academic senate at JNTU-H has given an opportunity to obtain required credits. The detained students will be allowed to take up advanced supplementary exams in the month of August/September, which was originally scheduled for  November/December. “If they get the required credits with the supplementary, they will be promoted to the second year, failing which they will be detained,” reads the circular issued by the university.

However, the university has asked all the detained students to sign an undertaking before appearing for the supplementary exam. “Students will have to submit an undertaking that they are prepared for  detention if they do not get the required credits even after writing the supplementary examinations,” reads the circular which clarified that only those who sign the undertaking will be allowed to write the supplementary exam.

The students will be allowed to attend  classes of the second year  till the process of supplementary exams with the submission of undertaking concludes.

This is the first time that JNTU-H introduced the detention system as the varsity  decided to shift from annual examination system to semester-wise examination system. “From the current academic year (2016-17), the semester-system has been introduced in place of year-wise in first year and the same rule of 50% credits is required for promotion to second year,” read the circular.