New Delhi: The University of Delhi decided to conduct mock tests for the Open Book Examinations (OBE) for the Final Semester Undergraduate and Postgraduate students from July 4 to 8. However, the very first day of the mock test was marked by several students registering various complaints.
From difficulties faced during registration to uploading incorrect question papers, the mock test turned out to be nothing but a mockery of the student’s future by the University Administration. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) is now inundated with panic mails from students who have nowhere to highlight their queries and seek answers.
In a series of shocking revelations, students across the varsity poured in complaints of the website crashing around 12 pm due to technical and network glitches. Many students got strange prompts of using the wrong email ID even though they used the same ID which was in the form filled by them, while others didn’t even receive the one-time password (OTP) to access the site. Those who managed to access the site discovered that out of the 37 question papers slotted, not even a single question paper belonged to their course. For instance, no question paper was available for Economic honours students. The only papers available were for the Annual System which was last taught in 2013 for regular courses. A majority of students are under tremendous stress and claim that 4 out of the 6 patterns of question papers (without parts) created uncertainty and doubts as they totally deviated from the conventional pattern of the question paper. Complaints of inability to download the question papers and upload them as per the site requirement were also pouring in.
Many students were seen tweeting #DUAgainstOnlineExams as a mode of protest, showcasing the general problems faced by everyone. NSUI’s National secretary, Lokesh Chugh expressed the wing’s despair with the administration department as he acutely replied to the Dean Examination’s statement, “Delhi University has made fun of themselves and has become a laughing stock in front of students. Official Statement suggests that the mock test is to make students aware of how to download questions and upload answers. But without any premeditated thought, DU is providing Hindi paper to Chemistry students and History paper to Political Science students. These ridiculous and reckless measures cannot be tolerated no matter what”.
However, the Dean of Examinations, Vinay Gupta denied the allegations saying that there had been no major problems with registration. He said, “More than 30,000 students have registered in the first slot. There may be some glitches but the point of holding these mocks was to smoothen them out”. He also denied that the website crashed and said that one or two subject papers must have been mixed up but otherwise everything is in place.
Even after facing immense criticism, the administration has gone ahead with the decision of conducting the Open Book Examinations for the final year students which will commence from July 10.
