The first online meeting held between the Vice-Chancellor and Deans of Delhi University regarding online examinations was disrupted because of the glitches and poor connectivity. Taking this argument forward, 12 out of 16 deans opposed that if such problems can be faced by them being in Delhi, how would students living in small towns and villages cope. But regardless of those facts, Vinay Gupta, Dean of Examinations issued the circular stating that DU will still be conducting open-book examinations.
The resistance by some Deans has now turned into a bigger opposition. All DU professors and student unions are on the same page when it comes to resisting open-book examinations and 15 heads from various departments have been expressing resistance.
A task force was made for the purpose of evaluating the options available considering the unfortunate circumstances and take decisions accordingly; and as per the task force’s decision, DU notified the 2.5 lakh final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of regular and distance learning institutions to appear for OBE. The circular seems to have disregarded the administrative, technological, and other practical problems that the students might face.
The biggest concern is a good internet connection and access to a computer/laptop for downloading the question paper, scanning the answer sheet, and uploading it. Most of the students weren’t even able to attend online classes or even have access to the online study material due to poor connectivity.
Another executive informed that the alternatives of calculating scores on the basis of internals or average marks of previous semesters have been discarded because it will be unfair and most of the students will have a similar range of marks. Regarding internet accessibility, students will be provided with the facilities at their district centres.
In addition to all this, the departmental heads have stated that only offline exams will take place in July because the difficulties are not just with the students but with the teachers as well. There are operational difficulties for HoDs in preparing question papers, moderation, and uploading them.
