AS College’s 2020-21 magazine replete with errors, questions over quality galore

Srinagar: The administration of the Amar Singh College (ASC) Srinagar has come under severe criticism over grave mistakes in the 2020-21 issue of its annual college magazine-Lala Rukh 2021.

The readers, mostly the college alumni, who have been provided with a copy of the magazine, have expressed their disappointment over the grave grammatical errors and other mistakes spotted on almost every page of the magazine.

The readers expressed their disappointment over the poor quality maintained by the college administration noting that the magazine is the face of the college and should reflect the high standards of education that the institution is known for.

“I was excited to receive my copy of the magazine, but was shocked to find that it was full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors,” said a retired professor.

The professor said the numerous errors in the magazine not only tell upon the overall quality of the publication, but also reflect poorly on the reputation of the college.

Surprisingly, the magazine has been edited by a number of faculty members across various language disciplines of the college, “which makes the errors even more unacceptable.”

“I was disappointed to see that even the captions of photographs and messages from the J&K LG, Commissioner Secretary of Higher Education, Vice Chancellor, Director of Colleges and other dignitaries were not free from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors,” the professor said.

Such mistakes have exposed the lack of attention and professionalism in the publication of the magazine, he said.

The professor said the cost of publication of the magazine ranges between Rs 3 to 4 lakhs.

“The high cost of the magazine, coupled with the poor quality of the publication, can be considered as a waste of resources,” he said.

“The quality of the articles and poems featured in the magazine were also not up to the mark. The errors in grammar and spelling were not the only issues, but the overall quality of the content was also not satisfactory,” the professor said.

The readers have urged the college authorities to take immediate steps to improve the quality of future publications and to address the issue.

“The college should implement more rigorous editing process, involving more skilled editors, and incorporating proofreading and language training for student editors,” the professor said

He said the college should incorporate a review process that involves multiple editors, to ensure that all errors are caught before the final publication.

“The college should appoint an independent proofreading and editing team to ensure that the final product is error-free,” he said.

The readers have asked the college administration to provide regular training to the student-editors and staff members on language and grammar besides establishing a proper review process that includes feedback from the alumni and general public.

The Principal ASC Srinagar, Prof. Bashir Ahmad Rather, when contacted, acknowledged the mistakes and said the errors must have happened in the previous issue (2020-21) of annual magazine due to disruption in working of the college on account of Covid-19 pandemic.

“But we are improving on it and our current issue is in the process of publication. We will ensure that no such errors are spotted in the new issue of the annual magazine,” he said.