The recent fracas over attendance at a city college raises the question: In an age where students need internships and extra-curriculars just as much as their degrees in order to land jobs, is the 75 per cent attendance mandate asking too much of them?
It took Akshada Sinha a lot of discipline and exhaustion, but she managed a 90 per cent attendance. PIC/ASHISH RAJE
For Mumbai’s college students, September and October don’t just signal the approach semester-end exams — they bring with them a different kind of dread. It’s the season of the debarred list. A single sheet of paper that can decide who makes it to the exam hall and who doesn’t. And not because of aptitude or performance, but merely on the basis of how much time a student has spent in the classroom. The mandated minimum for most colleges is 75 per cent attendance. As the semester draws to a close, group chats buzz with one wish: “I hope I didn’t make it to the list.”
On October 4, several students at Mithibai College in Vile Parle failed to make the cut, and all hell broke loose as their parents protested over the institute’s decision to debar them. In some cases, the students were short by as little as 2 to 3 per cent, they claimed. Parents kicked at the principal’s door; cops showed up; and the building had to be evacuated.
Akshada Sinha maintained a 90 per cent attendance while doing college fests and an internship, all at the same time. PIC/ASHISH RAJE
This fracas was not the first time students have pointed out that the insistence on 75 per cent attendance — a policy that came into being in the 1990s — is out of date in a world where internships, hybrid classes, and experiential learning have become central to higher education. And yet, the assumption remains that students who skip classes do so only because they don’t have the aptitude or interest to learn, or they don’t want to work hard.
This couldn’t be further from the truth for Aarav Ramnani. “In whatever exams I could give, I was the top scorer of my class. My classmates were really surprised. But I wasn’t missing college because I was dumb. I just had too many things to do,” recalls the 20-year-old filmmaker, who saw his fair share of debarments in college.
Cops showed up to Mithibai College when parents stormed the campus to protest attendance mandates. PIC BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
When he was just 17, Ramnani jumped at the chance of getting a headstart on his dreams of filmmaking, and joined an internship at Jugaad Motion Pictures, a renowned production house. By the time he took admission in a BA course in mass media a year later, he was already heading a few projects at the firm, so he decided to just juggle work and class. But his health took a dive, and his attendance at college really suffered. Eventually, he got debarred from exams.
Some teachers had disapproved of Ramnani working while pursuing his degree. But, he ventures, he often learnt far more about his trade while skiving class, especially following the curriculum changes following the implementation of the National Education Policy. A big facet of the policy is a multidisciplinary, holistic model of studying; this means more cross-department courses. “Even though I opted for a media degree, I was studying random subjects like Hindi and the Physics of Games — not even real Physics. Out of seven courses in the semester, only two were media-related. I just didn’t find those lectures engaging,” says Ramnani.
Rajendra Shinde, educator
Not willing to lose the momentum he had built while working on his passion for three years, Ramnani ultimately decided to drop out of college in his second year. And it seems to have paid off. Now 20, Ramnani has left Jugaad to start his own studio, Khopcha Productions, with his friends. There he works as a director of photography and a director. “In creative fields, there are no set hours. An idea could spark at any time. My friends and I will sometimes stay up nights in a row to finish a script. And we have a lot of fun doing that, because we love what we do. But some professors look at it like we’re just staying up all night, having fun, and not showing up to college the next day.”
Since he couldn’t meet the attendance mandate, Aarav Ramnani had to drop out of college to pursue filmmaking full-time. PIC/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI
Did the college ever intervene to try and find an alternative? “Some of my professors who were in the industry themselves were very supportive. They looked at me as a professional, not just as their student. Some went on to give me work,” he says, “Others told me that I should enjoy college life while I can, that I have the rest of my life to work. But I just couldn’t wait to do what I love.”
Ramnani is a prime example of how the world has changed for students preparing to enter the working world. It’s no longer enough to just finish college. Students have to juggle classes with extra-curriculars, extra courses, college festivals, and internships. As they go around chasing all of them, attendance tends to get left behind. But if students are learning just as much outside the classroom, has attendance become redundant? Every student that we spoke to agreed that an attendance mandate makes sense. They’re not opposed to the idea, just the way it is implemented.
Shivank Singh finds that living on campus makes it easier to meet the 80 per cent mandate in his college
“I understand the importance of attendance,” says Ramnani, “But the system just doesn’t make sense to me.” An alternative could be “earning enough credits through internships or freelance work to qualify for exams”. “I’m still learning, right? At the end of the day that’s what should matter. The system needs to be updated,” he asserts.
With technical degrees, the pressure can be even higher. At IIT Bombay, for example, the bar is set at 80 per cent attendance. The nature of the course can be quite complex, and much of the curriculum involves learning crucial theory and practical skills that students would not be able to learn through YouTube videos or notes available online.
Tamanna Kumari finds that it’s difficult to balance classes with studying and exams in engineering
But 80 per cent attendance can be too overwhelming and not always realistic, contest students. “I’d prefer it if courses did not have mandatory attendance,” says Tamanna Kumari, a 19-year-old Computer Science Engineering student, “Managing classes and assignments, along with studying for practicals and exams, becomes very difficult, especially if the classes are not as engaging. Any student would prefer to utilise their time studying.”
“Sometimes we might only have classes of a particular course three days a week,” Shivank Singh, a 20 year-old Bachelor’s of Design student at a premier technical institute in the city. “If you miss even one of these classes, it becomes very difficult to catch up on attendance.”
The fact remains that even technical degrees require students to do internships, but they restrict these to summer breaks. “I usually only skip classes when I’m sick or tired from working late the previous night, or when I am overwhelmed in general. I have an attendance record of 80 per cent,” says Singh, who admits that living on campus does make it easier to get to class.
Contrary to common conception, most Gen Z students do seem to understand the significance of their course and actively work to improve their attendance and performance. Akshada Sinha, who has freshly graduated from a demanding Bachelors in Mass Media course at a prominent city college, juggled classes, the college fest, and an internship, all while her attendance sat in the 90s. “I would finish classes by 1 pm, then get to fest work till 3 pm. Then I would head to my internship, get done there by 8 pm or so. Post that, I would catch up on the rest of my fest work. And then back to classes at 8 the next morning,” the 20-year-old recalls.
How did she manage so much? “It’s about time management. And such is the industry; you need to have it all to make it here,” says Sinha, who now works in creative strategy and branding. But did overworking ever lead to burnout? “I was exhausted, yes,” she says, “but I wouldn’t say burnt out. I enjoyed most of it. No one put a gun to my head and forced me to do all this.”
Sinha says that even at its worst, her attendance never dipped below 80 per cent. “If you miss 25 per cent of a 60-lecture course, you’ve already missed 15 lectures. That’s a large chunk of course work. I found my lectures engaging, and I liked attending them,” she explains.
There are cases where concessions need to be made, though. “A lot of people I know struggled with severe mental health issues,” says Sinha, “Even though we technically had medical leaves, they didn’t account for mental health,” she says, “Some colleges expect 95 per cent attendance, which is just unrealistic. It means they’re insisting that students show up even when they’re sick, at the risk of other students’ health.”
Rajendra Shinde, educator and ex-principal of St Xavier’s College, counters that the attendance rules are in place for a reason. “In all my years, I have found that what a face-to-face interaction can teach a student, that cannot be replicated anywhere else. And that cannot be learnt from home.”
College is the first time young adults step out into the world independently, which can be daunting and highly uncomfortable. But it is in this discomfort that students learn very important life skills such as networking, socialising, and communication skills.
The importance of campus life isn’t lost on Ramnani. “I miss the friendships and relationships you would find in college,” he reminisces, “It would have been very helpful to make use of a placement cell too.” Ramnani still plans to finish his college degree at some point through a correspondence course, he adds.
Sinha is cognisant that internships are important to land a job, but believes no one should be “working full time at 18 or 20 years old. You have your entire life to be a corporate slave,” she adds, “College was almost like a rite of passage for me. It should be enjoyed for that. Right now is a time to be savoured.”
‘Why don’t parents pay attention to their child’s attendance?’
On last week’s fracas at Mithibai College, the Principal, Dr Krutika Desai, says, “There’s already a 25 per cent leeway for family and medical emergencies. We have a learning management system called Student Portal. It notifies students and parents every month with attendance so that they can catch up if they are behind.
“We have a Principal’s appeal, where I have the leeway to grant five per cent attendance. We consider additional medical leave if it is a genuine case for example, tuberculosis or cancer. Given that medical documents are submitted within five days of leave. But we have had many cases of fake medical certificates being submitted.”
Dr Krutika Desai. PIC/MITHIBAI.AC.In
She shows us clearly Photoshopped medical certificates that have been submitted to her, alongwith a website link widely circulated among students: medicalcertificategenerator.com. “Students are complaining that they are behind by two or three per cent but that’s after my appeal. So actually they are behind by seven to eight per cent.”
“We follow rules and regulations which are available on the [college] website. They are informed [about attendance] during orientation. [If] they are not attending college, then who is responsible? I think parents. It is their duty to check whether their child is going [to college]. They can always come to the college to discuss issues. Every student is assigned mentors.
[The] mentor organises at least one meeting with parents if [the] child has not met the attendance. Unfortunately, many parents do not turn up at that time. Every day parents get WhatsApp messages when [their] child enters and leaves college. Why don’t they pay attention to it?
Then who is responsible for attendance shortage: college or parents?”
When asked about internships, she says, “Those are for summer breaks. And we even take those into consideration during June when students are usually still interning. If you want to work throughout college, do a correspondence degree… ” This year, around 100 students were debarred. “But that’s out of 6000,” Dr Desai clarifies, “As a percentage, that’s 1.6 per cent of students.” In 2020, Mithibai infamously debarred 565 students — the largest ever case at the institute. Both the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court dismissed a joint petition filed by 107 students contesting the decision.
‘Internships just as important for employment’
Shweta Sikchi, HR Consultant
Creative fields, especially those like filmmaking are running dry with jobs. Placement cells are unreliable and internships are the only way to make a connection that might bring a job once you graduate. Recruitment consultant Shweta Sikchi explains, “Recruiters today look beyond marks — they look for exposure, initiative, and real-world understanding, all of which internships provide. They help bridge the gap between what’s taught in classrooms and what’s expected at work.
“When you pursue an internship that builds relevant skills, your chances of landing the right job increase significantly. In fact, in most cases, the company you intern with — or a better one in the same field — often hires you later, because you already fit their work culture and needs. Attendance may earn you a degree, but internships often open the door to your career,” she says.
Now in schools too
The UGC had set the college attendance mandate in 1990s, and in 1999, the University of Mumbai (MU)upheld the rule. Even when MU revised the policy in 2014, the mandate remained untouched. Recently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) also incorporated the 75 per cent attendance requirement for students to qualify for Class 10 and 12 Board exams.
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