Mangaluru: After opposition from the Christian community, minority institutions and students, Mangalore University (MU)has decided to postpone the scheduled end-of-semester examination to the first week of January.

The exams were earlier planned during the Christmas and New Year season. In addition to the ongoing situation, an indefinite protest by guest lecturers, marked by their decision to boycott classes, has reportedly influenced MU’s decision to postpone examinations.

Due to this protest, it is being alleged that the syllabus for the odd semesters has not been covered.

Raju Krishna Chalannavar, registrar (evaluation), told that as per the provisional timetable issued by the MU, the first, third, and fifth semester examinations will commence on December 20 and end on January 17. Practical exams will start on December 15.

There was strong opposition from the Christian community, minority institutions, and students that the days when examinations were scheduled would hamper Christmas festivities. Also, it is a tradition in the coastal district to declare week-long holidays at Christian minority-run institutions for Christmas and New Year.

There was also a request from colleges that they need a few more days to complete the syllabus, because of the guest lecturers’ stir.

The guest faculty joined work 45 days after the commencement of the academic year.

“Considering all these factors, MU officials have decided to postpone the semester examination to January 2. However, practical examinations will be held between December 15 to December 30,” said Chalannavar.

The Christian community has welcomed the decision and added that postponing the examination has come as a relief. According to Catholic Sabha Mangalore Pradesh, there are 5,000 local Christian students and about 4,000 Christian students from other states and districts pursuing education under MU. There are thousands of staff members from the community working in colleges as well.