About 2,500 students at Bar Ilan University began a strike at noon today to press their demands for the revision of examination and grading practices and for student representation on the university’s Senate and other academic institutions. The students are demanding the cancellation of examinations for BA degrees and want BAs awarded on the basis of grades received by each student during his years of study.
They also want the passing grade lowered from 60 to 51 percent. The students are also asking for the recall of a letter sent by the Rector to all lecturers in which the Rector claims that grades are too high and instructors should be stricter in their markings. Relations have been strained between students and the Rector of the Orthodox-sponsored university because of the latter’s opposition to dances held in the campus auditorium on Saturday nights.
The Rector has threatened to close the auditorium if the dances are continued. He said today, however, that he did not prohibit the dances but suggests that the students themselves decide to discontinue them. The dance dispute was not given as one of the reasons for today’s strike.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
