Mandatory class attendance: Must colleges insist on it?

The issue of mandatory attendance at India's colleges and universities made news recently when BITS Pilani vice-chancellor V. Ramgopal Rao lauded his institution's long-standing zero-attendance policy.

- PUSHKAR

In contrast, University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations stipulate that "the minimum number of lectures, tutorials, seminars and practicals which a student shall be required to attend for eligibility to appear at the examination shall be prescribed by the university, which ordinarily shall not be less than 75% of the total." Most universities follow these regulations but are also known to make exemptions to the rule.

The rule is controversial because it is not evident that it exists for the benefit of students. It is also not clear why the threshold is 75% and why the penalty for the student is nothing less than being disallowed to sit for the examination and lose a year. Neither the UGC nor universities provide a rationale. Further, there is a near-absence of India-specific research.

In mid-2024, while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) filed after a law student at Amity University died by suicide in 2017 on being disallowed to take exams, the Delhi high court noted that education was no longer confined to classroom teaching and textbooks, and that there was a need to re-evaluate attendance norms. The court reasoned that "global practices followed by leading educational institutions around the world" would "need to be analysed to see whether mandatory attendance requirements are even required."