This Article is From Nov 22, 2012

St. Stephen's allows Life of Pi star Suraj Sharma to write his exams

St. Stephen's allows Life of Pi star Suraj Sharma to write his exams

Suraj Sharma is first year student of Philosophy at St Stephen's

Highlights

  • From an enviable international limelight, Life of Pi star Suraj Sharma suddenly finds himself in a spot not many students would like to be in.
  • An international tour to promote the much-anticipated Ang Lee film cost him much of the academic action at his college, St Stephen's.
  • Now, a lack of attendance and an apparent failure to produce his assignments in lieu of attendance means he stands to lose a year.
  • The first year student of Philosophy has already missed his first exam, which was on Wednesday, and uncertainty persists over whether he would be able to write his second exam on Friday after being denied an admit card.
  • The college requires students to have at least 66.6 per cent attendance to be able to appear for exams.
  • "In case of students who are admitted under sports quota, there is a provision for them to submit assignments counter signed by their teachers. The HOD has to say that they have done it," said college Vice Principal Clement Rajkumar.
  • However, Sharma was not admitted under a sports quota, as was the case with Unmukt Chand for whom the University later made an exception.
  • The college, as part of its internal mechanism, extended the facility of assignments in lieu of attendance to the young actor but the 19-year-old apparently says he has misplaced his assignments.
  • "We all want to help him out. I was told he never submitted his assignments, he in turn says he lost them," said Rajkumar.
  • Rajkumar said there were several students, particularly in the sports quota, who suffer because of lack of guidelines on a credit system as the University makes a transition to the semester system.
  • "There are so many students who work hard on sports but not all catch media attention like Unmukt Chand did. Many of them have to repeat years.
  • "I wish the University could give powers to the principals, for a year maybe, to use their discretion on a case-to-case basis until the complete transition to semester system takes place," he said.
New Delhi: After much uncertainty, Life of Pi star Suraj Sharma has been allowed by his college, St. Stephen's, to write his exams from tomorrow. The 19-year-old actor, whose much-anticipated Ang Lee film is scheduled to release tomorrow, had missed his first exam on Wednesday due to lack of attendance. He reportedly submitted his written assignments today to make up for his lost attendance.

"Yes, he will be writing his exams," St Stephen's college's Bursar K M Mathew told the Press Trust of India when asked if the teenage star had been provided his examination admit card.

An international tour to promote his much-talked about film had cost Suraj much of the academic action at his college. The shortage of attendance and an apparent failure to produce his assignments to make up for the classes foregone meant he risked losing a year. But Suraj, first year student of Philosophy, submitted his assignments as per the deadline set by the college that ended at 5 this evening. "I've submitted all assignments as was needed... I will study for tomorrow's exam and hope for the best," Suraj told NDTV.

The college requires students to have at least 66.6 per cent attendance to be able to appear for exams.Earlier, there was much confusion over Suraj's case, with some in the college saying he had failed to submit his assignments and others stating that he had. "We've actually made this provision for these kind of students...we love our students and support them...but he is a star outside the college," college principal Valson Thampu had said.

The college has, in the past, made an exception for students failing to acquire the required attendance for appearing in exams. Recently, Under-19 cricketer Unmukt Chand had been granted a reprieve under the sports quota. "In case of students who are admitted under sports quota, there is a provision for them to submit assignments counter signed by their teachers. The HOD has to say that they have done it," college Vice Principal Clement Rajkumar said. However, Suraj was not admitted under the said quota.

(With PTI inputs)
.