University teachers found using phones during evaluation in Bengaluru, action sought

Bengaluru: Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar has sought a report on some teachers allegedly using mobile phones while evaluating the answer scripts of undergraduate programmes of Bengaluru City University (BCU).

The videos, which students shared with DH, show evaluators using mobile phones on one hand and evaluating answer scripts on the other hand. Some even watched cricket matches on their phones while evaluating the scripts.

Though the University authorities tried to hush up the issue by saying the incident happened months ago, the higher education minister has sought a report from the higher education principal secretary following complaints from several students. The note by the minister to the principal secretary dated October 4, 2024, is accessed by DH.

“What justice can they provide to students if they evaluate the answer scripts in such a manner? We demand the revaluation of answer scripts of that entire batch which were assigned to that particular centre,” demanded Narendra N, a student representative.

Students said that they had given several complaints to the authorities of the BCU, but no action had been taken against the teachers involved.

“Along with the complaint, we have submitted video recording as evidence for evaluators using the mobile phones,” said another student. As mentioned in the complaint and also in the note by the minister, the incident took place at the evaluation centre of SJR Pre University College in Bengaluru.

When contacted, the BCU Registrar (Evaluation) Anand Kumar it was an old issue. “I was not the registrar when the incident took place. But after taking charge I have addressed the issue and it was resolved long ago,” he added.

The registrar further stated that the university had also warned the evaluators and submitted a report to the higher education department.

The registrar, quoting the teachers, said that they were attending to some emergency calls. Hence, no action was initiated.