Allowed to keep terms

Allowed to keep terms (ATKT)[1] is a process in the Indian education system to allow students of pre-graduation and graduation to study in the next grade if they have failed in 1 to 4 subjects. The students must pass the papers they failed before entering into the next grade. For example, if a first-year bachelor's degree student fails to get passing marks in his four subjects, the student must pass those subjects before entering the third year, while the student can study in second year.[2][3] It has backronyms like Tried and Keep trying.[4]

In some colleges this system is implemented as Supplementary Examinations especially in Engineering Colleges under the Central Government. In general, a student can pass a year with a maximum of 4 supplementary exams. Lets say someone has failed two exams in the first semester and three exams in the second semester, and he could not clear the first semester supplementary exam, he will have to repeat the year and would not be able to attend Third Semester. If someone has got five backlogs in the first semester and he clears one in the supplementary exam of the second semester, if he clears the second semester without any backlog, he will get promoted to 3rd semester but will have to clear the backlogs of the first semester. In most universities you will get three chances to clear any given backlog, Supplementary Exam, Re-Supplementary and Re-Re-Supplementary Exam also called Super-Supplementary Exam as a slang term by the students. At any given "even" semester, if your number of uncleared backlogs is more than four, you would not be promoted to the next year/semester in a Central Government Engineering Institute like IITs, NITs, IIEST etc.

The ATKT system has been criticized, mainly by teachers:

Firstly, it would bring down the quality of education in our school and colleges. Secondly, the students would not have any motivation to study.

[5]

The most notable/notorious form of ATKT or failure in examinations is in the Engineering Colleges in India. Some students have a backlog of more 10 ATKTs in an academic year.to protest this large volume of ATKTs, they assemble in the Mumbai University campus and demand for the ATKT rule to be increased so that they may be promoted to the next academic year in spite of having many ATKTs.

Within limits of a decent debate, the ATKT system should be moderated (on a "live basis", instead of a "one size fit all") approach by competent education administration authorities. This can be based upon sound knowledge of the local,group-level & individual social dynamics (Election Years, Increased festivities, Sports events, Loss of personal relative/educators etc.,). This requires a perfection in co-ordination between local administrator's (such as DEO, Education Commissioners, Principals of Schools/Colleges, VC's of Universities), sound knowledge of the history of local events during academic sessions and an interface with counsellors.

With the increased outreach of the internet and other media, it is easy to compare Education Systems by "arm-chair critics","struggling teachers/educators" as well as "peer group of guardians/parents/senior students(guiding junior students, without training)".

Changing goal posts during academic sessions has its repercussions, in record-keeping for education administrators, academic senates and academic rights activists (student/educator groups).

References
  1. Acronym of ATKT at TheFreeDictionary.com Retrieved 6 August 2010
  2. Allowed To Keep Term ATKT at Saching.com Retrieved 6 August 2010
  3. "Maharashtra/ATKT to rescue SSC,HSC failures" at Indiaednews.net Retrieved 6 August 2010
  4. Acronym of ATKT at TheFreeDictionary.com Retrieved 6 August 2010
  5. "ATKT rule: The magic wand for students or a populist move" DNA, 12 July 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2010
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