University of Delhi: While the mock tests have acutely affected the students across the country, the woes of the international students are going unheard. The students’ and the teachers’ bodies have, time and again, accused the administration of sidelining the health crisis in the country, but the brunt of the Open Book Examination (OBE) is equally borne by the international students as well.
In conversation with Kashish, the President of a Foreign Students’ Society in a DU college, the predicament of the students was highlighted. The mental health of the students has been vigorously affected by the pressure of resourcing means to appear for the OBE. The students who flew back to their country because of the pandemic have found themselves short of study materials and a suitable environment to study. Moreover, the Internet charges and connectivity speed differ in every country and the students, therefore, lack access to the e-resources. The Indian and the foreign students faced the issue of not receiving the OTP during the registration for the mock tests.
Additionally, the allotment of the CSCs (Common Service Centres) was only for the domestic students as a foreigner cannot avail of these facilities. However, even the domestic students were not allowed to enter the CSCs because of the pandemic. The authorities complaint of not receiving any notification from the University for the mock tests. The University had mentioned in a notification that the facility of the CSCs is only for the OBE and not for the mock tests. This defies the purpose of the mock tests as the domestic and the foreign students are unable to familiarize themselves with the procedures.
The University administration had issued a few helpline numbers and email addresses for the ease of the students but the emails went largely unanswered. A call snippet of a University member declining to help a student with his queries about the mock tests has gone viral over the social media. The students have been reaching out to their professors for some respite but the professors are as clueless as the students.
