In a recent development, the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) has come under scrutiny for its adherence to the Bar Council of India's rules and Regulation 11 of the GNLU Academic, Administrative, and Financial Manual-2019. The regulation stipulates that students must have a minimum attendance of 70% in order to be eligible to take the End Semester Examination for a given subject.

Critics have raised concerns about the inflexible nature of this policy, arguing that it fails to account for individual circumstances that may prevent students from meeting the attendance requirement. The strict enforcement of this rule appears to leave little room for exceptions, even in cases of medical grounds, thus potentially disadvantaging students who genuinely require accommodations.

The communication from the university makes it clear that no requests for further exemptions will be entertained, regardless of the reasons presented. This rigid stance has prompted discussions about whether the university's approach adequately supports student welfare and holistic development.

As the debate continues, some stakeholders advocate for a more compassionate and understanding approach that takes into consideration the unique challenges students may face. Balancing academic rigor with a willingness to accommodate genuine concerns could potentially lead to a more inclusive and supportive learning environment at GNLU.

If you can’t even attend 70% of the classes in a given term - for whatever reason, then surely the thing to do is to drop the semester finish dealing with whatever you’re dealing with and come back when you’re ready to be a full time student. Or re register for those courses next year. How is it fair to claim the rules shouldn’t apply because you didn’t follow them ? Aren’t there students who also deal with issues but also manage to attend classes ?

This is not about “inclusivity” which is such a vague buzzword it means nothing. No one is excluding any class of people on the basis of any immutable characteristic. Choosing not to attend classes is a choice. If you’re too sick to be in school for a term - the thing to do would be to take the term off and come back. Asking everyone else to lie for you- which is what you’re really asking for is academic fraud. The BCI requires so many hours of classroom instruction. It’s a fair ask given the state of legal education in the country. You haven’t completed those many hours of classroom instruction. You’re asking your professors to lie and forge attendance or you’re asking your institution to risk being derecognised and falsify records across the board. This IS fraud.

I had attendance issues as a student. I had to reregister for courses because of it. I just took it on the chin like an adult, learned my lessons and honestly that stuff helped me improve myself. Medicalising every single problem we have is not making us better people. It’s helping us evade responsibility for our actions.

CHRIST has 85% mandatory attendance which is above the BCI's mandate of 70% so if they can maintain it , you can. Please have a look at jurisprudence too.in which High Courts have upheld the BCI power to impose minimum attendance requirements and that such requirement is essential in a professional degree like law. 70% including "genuine" reasons is more than enough

Come under scrutiny? You make it sound as if people or authorities who matter are looking at an irregularity committed by the university! Only lazy students are bothered with this. The 30% leftover attendance is for your health issues which you manage to squander elsewhere. The reason does not really matter, if you aren't in the classes, then the assumption will be that you aren't learning, so go back, attend the classes and then ask for exams and promotions.

this rule has been in existence since the start of the University but is only being strictly enforced from this year...and thats because the exemption system (both medical and college events) has been abused endlessly by senior batches every year. I mean, the 5th years that just passed out attended maybe 20-25% of the total classes in the entire year and only a handful of them were actually working for organizing the cultural and sports events. The University is clamping down on this persistent abuse.

NUJS gives extra compensatory attendances for every random talk hosted in campus. Student socities organise 2 hour talks by calling random guests and then give attendance to 100+ people even if only 50 attended the event. No vetting mechanism exists.

For cultural fest alone, 10 attendances were given.

At NUJS, students with 10% attendance have been allowed to write exams for last 4 years. There are students who didn't attend a single class but have still got 70% attendance certificate. Last year, when university was enforcing 65% attendance, students protested and added extra attendances and even those who got debarred in more than 2 subjects didn't face any consequence of year as per regulations. Despite such leniency, students still want a no attendance policy. Shameful.