The college through its official notice dated March 1, a copy of which has been obtained by The Indian Express, has declared that `the teaching of all subjects will be suspended from Thursday, March 4, 1999 to Monday, March 15, 1999 on account of HSC exam.''

The unsolicited `Roman Holiday' has dealt a severe blow to the academic term of the aggrieved students who are still bearing the brunt of nearly one and a half month of academic loss due to junior college teachers' strike.

The notice came more of a shock than a surprise to the students who thought that taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances they will infact be called for extra classes to complete the syllabus.

While the college authorities have decided to stick to their decision, the teachers on the other hand have resolved to take up cudgels on behalf of the students.

In gross retaliation, the teachers have not only opposed the `official closure' of the college but on the contrary have also put up the demand that arrangements be made for conducting additional classes for class eleven students.

``This is for the first time that the classes are being suspended during the HSC examination. It never happened in previous years and there is least relevance of it this year when the junior college students have been badly hit by the strike,"remarked a teacher.

``The college authorities are citing the reason that they have to make arrangements for over 700 students and all the rooms in the college will be occupied. All we need is some space where we can conduct the classes," remarked another teacher.

This is ridiculous that when the teachers and students are both willing to teach and learn, the college feels otherwise. The decision clearly shows the lack of concern of college authorities for the students, the teacher added.

When contacted, Beena Inamdar, principal of the college said, "we will have 700 students appearing for board exams in our college. Since it is difficult to get outside staff for invigilance for just Rs 15 for a paper, we have asked our college staff to do this. Besides engaging our staff, we would be requiring more than 20 rooms for conducting the exam,'' she remarked.

When her attention was drawn to the notice which clearly states the suspension of classes, she said, ``There could be some drafting mistake in the notice.''

``Once the pin-point notice is displayed there is little for students to interpret in more than one ways,'' remarked a student alleging lack on concern on part of the college.

It may be noted that due to the centralised admission process, the standard XI students lost a month of their academic year. This, added to the strike has resulted in a loss of over two months of academic term.

At present, an appreciable portion of the syllabus needs to be completed.The biggest impact of the ten-day holiday is likely to be on the examination schedule of the students.

In the event the annual exam is conducted on time by mid-April the students will hardly have a week's gap between the exam and the completion of their term. On the other hand if the exams are postponed due to this, the students are likely to suffer in their `summer-vacation' preparations for the HSC examinations for next year.

The official suspension notice of regular classes of standard XI is likely to incur the wrath of the education department.

Speaking to The Indian Express senior officials of the department said that under no circumstances the regular classes can be suspended for a lump-sump period of ten days just to make arrangements for HSC exam. It is the responsibility of the college to ensure that the students' regular academic activities are not affected by the exam. The college are expected to make alternative arrangements for this, the officials said.

When asked whether the department would intervene in the matter the officials answered in an affirmative on the condition that a formal complaint was made to the department.