Universities submit exam plans, only Amravati for offline papers

Universities submit exam plans, only Amravati for offline papers

Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao TNN

Mumbai: 08.09.2020

Amravati University would be the only varsity in the state to conduct its final exams in the traditional pen-and-paper format; students would have to travel to colleges close by to even take their practical exams. Meanwhile, Mumbai University students prepping to take the online multiple choice model exam would be given a question bank for preparation.

Almost all other universities which submitted their proposals to the state government on Monday stated they would hold online take-from-home exams for candidates. For students who cannot take online exams, offline papers would be offered later. Shivaji University, Kolhapur, is the only varsity that is yet to submit its exam-related decision to the state.

State director of higher education (DHE) Dhanraj Mane said he has received proposals from all universities, barring Kolhapur. “We are compiling all the reports and we will present the same to the state government,” he told TOI. The final report will be forwarded to the disaster management authority. Universities have given detailed reports on the dates when exams would be held and how they would conduct them.

Final-year MU students will receive a question bank with at least 250 questions to understand the exam format. An official said the university is considering giving a question bank with a minimum 250 questions, but colleges can exceed the limit and give more questions.

“The final guidelines, expected to be released on Tuesday, will give more clarity. Whether these question banks will be prepared by individual colleges or lead colleges is still undecided. Since no two students can get the same question paper, we have to provide more questions in the bank. Attempt should be made to cover the entire syllabus,” said the official. While the questions will be in MCQ format and the paper will be of 50 marks, the university is considering giving 25 questions in the paper. It is not final though.

Most universities concurred on the fashion of conducting the exams: Online and in MCQ. SPPU has stated if a student is unable to appear for exams online, the varsity would conduct offline papers on OMR (optical mark recognition) sheets tentatively from October 15. A final decision on whether online exams would be proctored would be taken on September 10.

At Amravati University, though, exams will also require the varsity to procure masks and gloves for faculty and staff who will be handling the process. “We have decided to follow all the SOP (standard operating procedure) for conducting the offline exam. Refresher revision courses are on for students. Each exam will be of two hours and there will be no compulsory questions. Students have to merely answer six questions out of 10,” said Pradeep Khedkar, management council member of Amravati University. Candidates who are not currently close to the college can take the exams from any nearby college. All colleges will be exam centres. There would not be external supervision for practical exams. The university may provide Covid insurance cover to students.