Students of RTU write letters, create Twitter storm to conduct examinations online

The students of Rajasthan Technical University have now taken to Twitter, asking that the university scraps its plan to conduct the end of semester examinations offline and resort to online examinations. A lot of the dissenting students say that they are scared to step out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past month, the students in the even semester had written various letters to the authorities, including the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot. The university has now released the date sheet of the offline examinations for the odd semester students. "RTU officials have said that they do not have the infrastructure to conduct exams online, despite being a technical university. However, they had no issues conducting lectures online," says a student who did not want to be named. "Many students of the university are from other states and they find it quite hard to travel. Also, social distancing isn't formed in the college hostels or outside the exam halls," he says.

A poll conducted by India Wide Parents' Association, that saw a participation of over 6,000 people, had over 98 per cent favouring online examinations. The students say that the authorities are however not responding to any of their emails or suggestions. A month ago, a group of hackers had hacked the university's website, demanding online examinations.