2 lakh DU students will take exams from home...

Shradha.Chettri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  15.05.2020

Delhi University will be holding an “open book, take home online examination” for close to 2 lakh finalyear undergraduate and postgraduate students. The system has been devised for both regular and distance mode students, including those registered with School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board.

While the system is being opposed by the teachers, even students have raised concerns over not being able to write the exams because of lack of laptops and highspeed internet connections.

In a notification, dean (examination) Vinay Gupta stated that the exams would begin from July 1. The detailed datesheet would be provided later.

“All examinations will be conducted through three sessions in a day, including Sundays, and have a duration of two hours. In case the situation isn’t normal due to Covid-19 and maintaining social distancing, safety and health of students become difficult, the university will adopt an alternative mode of examination,” said the notification.

Arrears and improvement examinations of final-year students would also be held in this manner. Students would be able to refer to books and study materials while appearing for the exams. However, there’s no clarity about the exams being conducted under the supervision of an invigilator.

A senior university official said this was the only alternative left, so the working group overseeing examinations took this decision. “Under the current circumstances, it cannot be said when the university will open. We couldn’t put the process on hold for long as final-year students need to be given their results. Any delay can impact their future plans,” he added.

Head of the departments have been sent a letter by the examination branch asking them to prepare question papers and submit them before June 3.

Students will have to download question papers from the official website within an hour. They will have to answer a set of four questions within two hours. The answers will need to be written on plain paper, which will then have to be scanned and uploaded.

The teachers preparing the papers have been directed to frame questions in a manner that will test the understanding and analytical skills of the students. There should be minimum or no scope for verbatim copying from books. The department will moderate three sets of question papers for each course of both UG and PG programmes, following which they will be uploaded on the portal.

Questions have also been raised on whether the website will be able to handle such huge traffic. Earlier, when the examination registration had shifted online, students had faced technical problems.

Other universities, like Jamia, have announced holding of offline examinations in July for its final-year students.

DU OFFICIAL SAYS

We could not put the process on hold for long as final-year students need to be given their results. Any delay can impact their future plans