The final year BA Political Science students of the University of Delhi were shocked when they opened their mailbox this morning. Students were all geared up to write their online open book Modern Philosophy examination. While they were expecting their question paper to be emailed, what they received was the mock test question paper.
Neha* was one of them. Surprised, she refreshed her browser several times only to find no new emails. "I then checked the university's website. The same paper was uploaded there. I was confused, but I had no time to waste. So, I started writing," she says. Neha noticed her phone buzzing continuously at around 12 PM. By then, she had almost finished answering question 1. "Around that time, the university realised its mistake and uploaded a new question paper. I panicked," she says.
Neha tells us that she tried contacting the nodal officer of her college, to inform him of the issue. "But his response was, 'What can we do? These things happen. You attempt the rest of the questions properly.' This got me furious. The university has to be accountable," she says. Even though the university later gave the students a half an hour extension, Neha says that it wasn't the right compensation. "The students are under a lot of stress already. Internet connections in our homes are quite unstable. The university cannot play with our lives," she says.
