Uniform grading system for varsities
University Grants Commission (UGC) has taken an initiative to introduce uniform grading system in all the universities (The Daily Star, 16 November 2005). It is indeed a step in the right direction and, if implemented, this would be a major achievement of the UGC. It appears that the proposal contains nine-grade cutoffs. To administer such a large number of cutoffs is going to be a nightmare for both the academic and relevant administrative staff. There may be some compelling reasons for this, but for the tertiary level the proposal sounds complex because too many narrow ranges of grades have been considered. To keep the process simple and manage effectively, the nine-grade cutoffs could be brought down to five, for example, grade A (above 85%); grade B (above 75%); grade C (above 65%) and grade D (above 50%). Also, a 'no grade' for below 60% marks in the present proposal may not be justified given the international benchmark, which in most cases is 50%. With its present form, the proposal is likely to end up with a labour intensive and time consuming grading approach. This is not ideal for a university where smooth running of academic calendar still remains a huge challenge due to the political climate existing in the campuses.
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