With regards to making proper arrangements for the upcoming online semester examinations to be conducted via WhatsApp and email, the Department of Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, has issued guidelines to colleges and universities.

It is within February 1 to February 20 that online exams should be conducted and the department has directed educational institutions to arrange for internet facilities for those students who don't have access to the internet so that they can appear for exams seamlessly. 

As per the notification, nodal officers need to be appointed by principals of colleges for each subject. It is them who will form a WhatsApp group, wherein, after downloading the question paper, students will reply "Downloaded". This is so that authorities can keep track of how many students appear for the exams. The students will be required to scan their answer scripts and send them via email or WhatsApp to concerned teachers within an hour of exam completion, failing which, they will be marked absent. Within a week, the students will also be required to send the answer scripts via post or courier to their institution or they can also be handed over in-person to the concerned colleges. 

It was after complaints were received from students hailing from rural areas regarding trouble in uploading the answer sheets and posting the answer scripts immediately after the exam that the department is granting one week time for the same.

"Based on the Whatsapp group information, the nodal officers will enter the absentees in the university website through ERS," mentions the notification. 

Meanwhile, there are teachers who are concerned that online exams are not good for students. "In this exam, which will be conducted through Whatsapp and email, students will happily open their books, copy the answers. There is no use of such exam as our students are not going to learn anything," said the principal of a Government Arts college in Chennai.