GUWAHATI, May 25 - Although altogether 12 students from four educational institutions of the city shone in the Higher Secondary Final Examination conducted by the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC), ironically, none of the government colleges having a glorious academic past could grab a single rank in the Science and Arts streams.
�This time we were hoping to get rank holders in the Arts stream as in the previous years. But we did not get the expected results even though some of our students did very well. Moreover, in case of the Science stream, most meritorious students are mainly concentrating on getting a seat in an engineering or medical college, rather than securing ranks,� Academic Registrar of Cotton University Sanjay Dutta told The Assam Tribune.
This time, altogether 549 students in the Science stream sat for the examination from Cotton University and among them 521 passed the examination. In the Arts stream, of the 173 students who had sat for the examination, 164 passed.
In the Science stream, 153 scored star marks and 420 secured first division. In the Arts stream, 50 students scored star marks and 129 secured first division.
Meanwhile, official sources at the university said that the crisis of teaching staff was the main reason behind the institution�s waning glory in the HS examination.
�After Cotton College was upgraded into a university, the workload of teachers has increased a lot. Now one teacher has to look after students from HS to doctorate level, which causes lots of distractions in the academic activities. Also, sometimes classes have to be cancelled in the HS level due to shortage of teachers. Maybe the HS section of the institution will be separated soon as per the Cotton University Act. Then the HS section will get separate teaching and office staff,� sources said.
Satyendra Nath Barman, Principal of B Borooah College said many factors were behind the current situation prevailing in the city�s government colleges.
�Today most of the brilliant students of Assam are not willing to come to Guwahati in the HS section as many good colleges have come up in every nook and corner of the State. Moreover, in some colleges, the crisis of teaching staff has also adversely impacted the results,� he added.
From B Borooah College, this time altogether 252 students appeared in the Science stream and among them 191 passed the examination. In the Arts stream, of the 308 students who had sat for the examination, 270 passed. In the Commerce stream, 121 students appeared in the examination and 117 passed.
Commenting on the issue, educationist and former vice-principal of Cotton College Prof Deven Dutta said that results of government colleges were being affected by multiple factors, including various distracting elements which were taking a toll on student life.
Dutta asserted that science and technology-induced factors including mobile phones caused loss of time in case of many students.
