Gauhati University Grading system; declares to opt Absolute Grading method

After many discrepancies occurring in the result manifestation process, the Gauhati University Grading system to be changed and will be going for an “Absolute grading system”. Dr. DJ Choudhury, The Controller of Examination, Gauhati University, declared that the University will adopt an “Absolute grading system”, considering the circumstance arising out of the covid-19 pandemic and the blended evaluation system consisting of “Open Book”, through an official notice on April 26, 2022. All the results evaluation from the covid period (2020), will be done by this form of the grading system. This step has been taken in order to achieve a ” Student-friendly grading system “. 

To solve the problems of the students and teachers, a notice was released by the University on 11th February, where a Fact-Finding Committee was formed to look at the Gauhati University Grading system and issues related to it.

Earlier, on January 21, there was a massive protest in front of the Gauhati University campus over the  3rd Semester (CBCS) results declared on January 16. The Gauhati University Grading system created confusion all around and the students from over 20 Colleges affiliated with Gauhati University joined the protest including the All Assam Students Union (AASU) of Gauhati University itself. Students were very disappointed by the low SGPA obtained and the delay in the declaration of results. The third-semester examination was cancelled and it was decided by the authority that the result will be declared based on the performance of the previous semester.

The current notice delimits all the issues that were creating hindrances to the Gauhati University grading system.

Gauhati University Grading system: All about the Absolute Grading

Absolute grading is a grading system where students are awarded grades on previously established standards of performance. Each group of points is assigned a letter grade, and whatever the score is achieved by the student, that is their grade. Many schools around the world follow the absolute grading system to assign letter grades. Each student’s grade is directly correlated to their academic achievement of defined learning objectives or pre-defined academic benchmarks.

Why relative grading system has been abandoned? 

In the relative grading system, grades are given based on the student’s score compared to the others in the class. Point values in this system don’t translate directly into letter grades. However, this system is very rigid and does not locate the true potentialities of a student.

Discrepancies in the mind of the students

The result was evaluated based on 50% marks from the assigned assignments, 20% from internal assessments, and 30% from the performance of the earlier semesters. However, students alleged that despite scoring good marks, they obtained poor SGPA. A student said, “We the students of 5th Semester (CBCS) are facing a massive problem. Our 3rd Semester results have been declared but there are a lot of mistakes and negligence in the evaluation of our SGPA. Gauhati University has decreased the marks as compared to the previous semester”. Gauhati University responded by issuing the notice to reconsider the results declared from March 2020.

The problem was not only about the Gauhati University Grading system but also about those students who had actually got good marks in the previous semester and scored poor marks later, whereas vice versa was seen in the case of those students who got good marks. Almost every student got the same marks in the assignment evaluation, the question in the mind of the students was about the change in the pattern of the marking system. The student scoring higher marks in the earlier examinations should have got good grades as compared to others.

Therefore, Absolute Grading System has been adopted under the Gauhati University Grading system, to create a “Student Friendly Grading system”.

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