Semester VS Annual System
November 26, 2008
I am glad that I got an opportunity to experience the semester system. When we left the college I heard they reverted back to the annual system. So when we had joined and the students came to know they would have to take an exam every second month, they were quite miffed about it. They tried to induce pressure on the administration for changing it back to annual but the decision had already been made and any change was out of question.
I had always taken annual (board) exams so naturally I took some time in adjusting to the new system besides till date I don’t exactly understand the GPA system. Yet I found it much better than the annual system. It keeps both the teachers and students busy and engaged.
What system do you prefer and why?
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Semester system keeps the students busy and more focused towards what is being taught in the class, but at the same time the students who really want to venture into something else don’t get time for that. They cannot focus on anything else apart from the curriculum. This is not the case for annual system but then we can argue that in our system if we do give time to students they usually end up misusing it rather than doing something constructive (mostly).
So annual system perhaps wins but then the curriculum being taught must be good enough to cover all aspects of the degree and the development of the student.
The semester system is the norm everywhere now, and for good reason. I think six months is a sufficient duration for a person to grasp a subject and gain complete knowledge about it. Having studied in an annual system all my life, I find the semester system challenging and something worthwhile.
The semester system, no doubt. It is more competitive, helps cover more content in the same amount of time, and saves everybody the monotony.
Semester system always.
Way too competitive and interesting thing is preparations go side by side. Need of time!!
Semester System is better, I guess for students of our part of world. We get relax so easily.
However, it shouldn’t be changed from one to another in the middle of a course. In UET, our session went through annual system, the first yr. Semester system was introduced then & our 3rd semester started in 2nd Yr. Adjustment mein hee, I flunked in so many subjects. Silsila kaafi duur tak chalta raha, phir.
hahahahaha same here…….
Both have its merits and demerits for that matter. I quite agree with Anas that the annual system allows the students to explore and nurture their talents in fields other than just grasping their curriculum BUT this freedom could also render a student off focus from his study which in turn might stress him alot at the end of the year.
Same is the case with the semester system in a reversed perspective.
A perfect combination of both could be attained in a bi-semester educational year where a student could get ample time to study as well improve his other life skills.
I love the semester system…
Annual system has been proven to be dramatically flawed
I think ur progress should be continuously evaluated along the way rather than judging ur entire performance at the end of year
Thank you all for your comments. So it seems we have mixed views about it. Personally, I like it a lot.
BMK: I think they made fun of the entire system
I agree they should never change it in the middle as it disturbs and doesn’t let one focus. Thank God they didn’t do that with us.
I would have aced in a semester system – I am a conceptual learner – I always did bad in once a year cramming stuff exams. that is why my math is good – I get concepts like lightening.
I suck at math
I like semesters because I (personally think) there is less burden and things wrap up soon.
I love vacations as there are more vacations in semseter system so i love semester system/
(y) , same here dude
I too like that benefit of semester system
semester system is not better for students. its only stress the students on book reading/notes inspite of to research on their subjects.
i agree with you i undrstand because i am also a student of that system
i also love semester system
Strongly Agree…..
Hmm… I enjoyed it and I felt it keeps the student engaged throughout.
ya i to like semester system
it is so borring to give exame all around the year. annual system is better than it because it gives the oppounity to student to make deep analysis on subjets.
We got maximum marks in semester system but it is not easy in annual system.
This is an issue which had taken birth in the beginning of the current year ’09 as a blessing/gift/whatever you may take it as.For people like me,who have given their first ever “University of Delhi” final exams,have mixed reactions for this new implementation of rules.Some of my friends go like,”Let it be right now,jab hoga tab dekha jayega.” These people more of belong to the why-tension-now group.A bunch of others go”Im waiting for my silly first year’s result and you ask me my views on something that’s maybe going to happen next year..Im not even sure when..hah!I might as well be seen shaking hands and sharing classes with kids younger to me than almost an year.” These go into the I-didnt-study-the-whole-freaking-year-and-im-pretty-much-pissed-off-about-the-result.So you dont expect much of an intellectual opinion from these people.
We certainly have our own family group where you tend to hear nothing else but a set of these:
“Its going to be for all you students and not just you.”
“The University is more judicious and informative decision makers.”
“Be prepared for the unexpected or worse.(and you will become strong headed)”
But our point is..try asking us..DO WE REALLY NEED THE SEMESTER SYSTEM TO BE REPLACED BY THE ANNUAL SYSTEM?While people try figuring thi s out,taking sides,cultivate thoughts about it,I feel the semester system would surely be a lot different from what we have been witnessing in DU since decades,leave years.This probably has nothing to do with being partial with a specific approach or preference of a set of people but only an attempt to group those people whose thoughts and opinions lie similar.Its about students like us who also have a say in matters which directly affect us.
I think as a pakistani that semester systm is not good in our country becouse of that semester system, our graduation has become of 16 years and that is not good for Pakisan becouse Pakisan is not such a developed countries so the government should remove this system that’s reason is that the students could not affored for a long period study.
this is not true hounors programe is so good.for our country
The way to become more developed is to emulate the developed world. Case in point, we use the semester system in the majority of schools in the West. Don’t shy away from schooling just because it has a steep learning curve. Knowledge is power people.
Now onto my actual point. I was a part of the semester system in most of my schooling. The benefits far outweigh the negatives. For example, you study 4-5 courses each semester allowing you to focus solely on the subject matter. In annual, you must take 8-10 courses all at once and retain the knowledge from each subject until you write the exam at the end of the year. People will say 6 months is too long to wait between courses in the semester system. All it takes is a few days of review at the beginning of each semester. It is like riding a bike, you will never completely forget something. Universities/Colleges use the semester system. This should be reason number one to support it in high school. It is a practical way of teaching students how life will be in post-secondary education. Practical learning is always advantageous over theoretical learning.
Some thoughts from Canada…
I my opinion smester system is better ,because its contains busy to student in stydy ,student touch wiith books,lecture attend more properly, attentive,but i liked annual system because in system there is much time for other activities,and student perepare last months,
smester system is so bad for student.>..>.>.>>.>he he he ha
I think that annual system is better because in this system students have much more time for extracirricular activities.while in semester system student only confined to thier studies.
I, for some reason liked semester system because it didn’t let me procrastinate…
i like semestr system because burden and course is removed after 2 or 3 months and we start further study without taking tension of prtevious syllabus.
i dislike semestr system because we have no touch with previous study and we forget it quickly as next semerster started.
I like semesters too for keeping the students on their toes! It’s worth it in my view…
I am in favor of both these schemes because both have their own merits. But if an institution wants to switch on to annual system from semester than proper guidelines must be provided to the students. I give u an example our college has switched from semester_annual system but the course outline provided to us was vague and no proper guidance was provided to us by the concerned University. that’s problematic. So one should keep in mind the benefits of the students. moreover in the last days of exams different books which are totally UN-touch to us was provided and forced us to study. Really this is not the way things are
I’m for semesters all the way. The annual system make me procrastinate too much.
i think semester system is much better than annual system becoz in annual system the student do not bother about their studies, thay are always on the view that they will study at the end. this make them lazy. they also do not take stress of study. but in semester system students have less time to study, so they do not waste their time becoz they know, if they do so, they will be fail in exams. in semester system student also comer to know aboout their performence in a short period and they make efforts to improve their performence. but in annual system students come to know about their performence after a long period. with this view point semester syster wins.
but if we talk about extra curriculam activities annunal system is much better, becoz they get some extra time to participate in different activities and improve their skills. but in semester system students students remain busy in teir study. so annual system wins.
Yearly System is better than semester system because in this system we have much time to cover our syllabus before time.
Thank You
in annual we hve more time for partry sharyty and hve fun wid frds
this system is easy for the students who are studying in semester system from the beginning of their studies. But when a student comes from annual system, it is quite difficult for him to go with this system. He takes much time in getting familiar with this system. I am not glad about studying in semester system. The system of study must be same from the very beginning till the very end. It is effective for studies.
i hateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee semester system
same to u…!
im much familiar with annual system, but now im university student. i still dont know how semester system works. i want to know wht would happen to me if i remain absent from exams of first semester? will my admission be cancelled? plz rply anyone, i will be thankfull to!!!
no man no one’s gonna cancel your admission man .you just have to give a worthwhile reason and give your exams later.
Both have its merits and demerits.In a society like
like pakistan where teachers misuse the authoritative power
as the current example of Peshawar University indicated by
MPA Nigahat Orakzai. It (semester) fails when students don’t work and expect teacher for help in examination.
while the second system also fails when student studys entire year and examination get postponed due to uncertain
situation as held last year after severe Flood.
yeap semester system is better than the annual system and makes the student more confident about their study and and brings the huge change in their lives after completion of the study in semester system . thanks
In a semester system there is not enough time to develop a topic as a result students have limited knowledge to apply in the working world when they graduate. Students are rushed through topics because lecturers have to complete the syllabus. Whereas in an annual programme lecturers can spend more time on topics to give students well rounded knowledge and make them better prepared for work.
I really love the system of semester because of it inspires the students and teachers to engages the activities in continuous manner and also learn more with span of time rather than annually with other curriculum also.
I think Semester system is better because Students get relax easily & ignoring their studies.They think that they study whole subjects near exams due to which they get low marks but in semester system student busy in his study through out the semester in order to achieve good GPA or CGPA.
Semester system is easy or should i say a sweet dish, for students who like to get their toes up. Best point of semester system is, if some student not having a good time with his/her teacher, the interaction is just for half a year. Everything changes too quickly, the demand of today’s world;) Annual system, slow and dull, just hate it.
I would like to say that semester system is like an automated system in which students and teachers are engaged throughout the semester,teachers are energetic and students are motivated, output getting process is fast whereas annual system like a manual system which is slow,time wasting,less productive,slow judging process.
I think annual system is better. becoz more time to study and get high mark in exam.
Semester syste suckkssssssss …………..
through semester system we get more knowledge about subject in short period o time.while in yearly system students not completely sincere with study whole year.they are study at the end of the year …. in semester system in a year we study diff subjects but in yearwe cover 2 or 3 books which make student bore………i love semester system…………<3
i am just enter in semester system.
i m conducting a research which system is beterrrrrrrrrr
I am currently a student of comsats university.It is the fall semester,I would be lying if I said that I like semester system.I think that it’s a huge burden because I want to take part in extra curricular activities which I can’t because the semester is so short.I don’t know if the fall semester is so short in other universities or it’s just the comsats.plz do reply if you can.We have got the date sheet and the terminal exam is scheduled to undergo on 31st of dec which happens to be the last day of the fourth month.I don’t know about you people but I am having a really hard time getting a grasp on these courses.
GPA OR GRADE POINT AVERAGE_ to calculate multiply the credit hours by grade points earned by u of all subjects then take total of all credits of subjects and grade points and finally divide grade points by total no of credits SEMESTER SYSTEM IS A VERY REALISTIC SYSTEM asa it not only lowers burden but provides ampleopportunity to learn the course seriously whether it is taught in the class room or not Sincere students study regularlywhich enables them to acquire vast knowledge and graspcourse material in full