Delhi University postpones open book exams for 10 days
The University of Delhi (DU) has postponed the online open book examinations for final year students for 10 days on Saturday in view of the current state of the COVID-19 situation in NcT. These exams were scheduled to begin on July 1. The new datesheet will be notified by the examination branch on 3 July.
The notification issued by the university states, ‘all concerned are hereby informed that examinations scheduled for all final semester /term /year and ex-students as per date sheet in OBE mode examinations as an alternative mode of examinations in view of COVID-19 pandemic adopted as one time measure for academic session 2019-20 for all streams of UG and PG including SOL and NCWEB stands postponed for ten days in view of the prevailing situation of COVID-19 pandemic’.
The notification also states that the basic guidelines issued by the examination branch on 14.05.2020 relating to OBE mode of examination will be applicable for further rescheduled examinations. In addition, the notification states that a mock test is to be conducted for the convenience of the students taking the exam to give awareness about the procedures of the OBE mode, which will start from July 4, 2020.
The decision of the Delhi University to conduct ‘open-book’ mode online examination for UG and PG examinations was severely criticized by the student union and teachers. In this examination, students will be allowed to use their notes and other study material to answer the questions, after downloading the question papers for their respective syllabus from the web portal at home. Students will have to upload an answer sheet in two hours.
The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) termed this system of examinations as “discriminatory” and “unfair”.
The DUTA had written a letter to the vice chancellor of the university to scrap the ‘open-book’ system of the examination, suggesting that students should be awarded degrees based on five semester’s Cumulative Grade Points (CGPA).
They argued that such a system of examinations would ‘move higher education towards personalization’ by devaluing the degree and reducing its rigor. DUTA had reportedly conducted a survey in which 74% of the students were against conducting the online examination.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday asked the expert committee for examinations and academic calendars to review and submit a report after revising its guidelines.
Earlier, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank tweeted, ‘I have advised @ugc_india to re-issue the previously issued guidelines for intermediate and terminal semester exams and academic calendar. The revised guidelines should be made keeping in mind the health and safety of students, teachers and staff.
