Clearing all the ambiguities surrounding final year exams the University of Delhi has recently announced its tentative date sheet for final year students on its website (http://exam.du.ac.in/) and has duly mentioned “Ex-students and students will appear for II/IV semester along with VI Semester Exams July- 2020 only for ER & improvement as per rule,” therefore clearing the ambiguities surrounding ex-students, those eligible for reappearance and improvement as well.
It has also been indicated through a note at the bottom of the date sheet that; “In Open Book Examinations (OBE) mode as one time measure for Academic session 2019-20 in view of Covid-19 pandemic,” which conveys that exams would be conducted in OBE pattern amidst Covid 19 pandemic despite severe criticism regarding the move from students and teachers citing it as ‘a mockery of DU examinations.’
As soon as the date sheet was released by the varsity its website crashed soon after with that students tweeting against the release asserting it as an insensitive and antipathical towards them. Earlier also the apprehensions of students with regard to OBE such as; online classes, reading material, laptop, smartphone, internet, availability of conducive environment and their readiness to appear were reported in the recent online survey conducted by Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) conveying 85 percent students of Delhi University against the proposed Open Book Examinations which was participated by over fifty thousand students.
Another issue with the date sheet along with OBE mode of examinations lies is limited number of leaves provided in between the exams scheduled. This may have been done to complete the formalities of taking the exams, checking the answer sheets, and declaring the results of the students in a timely fashion as the provincial certificates or degrees are required by the graduating students to join their placed jobs or to further carry with their higher education.
