Law students from the Delhi University have been protesting to cancel their fourth-semester exams which were not evaluated internally because the Bar Council of India has raised an objection. The Delhi High Court heard the petition last week. But now another set of students have written to the BCI asking them to not cancel the exams because they think it will help them distract themselves from all the negativity.
Like, seriously.
The letter from around 100 students said that they agree with their classmates that the pandemic has made them go through one of the toughest times ever but also want to appear for the OBE (Open Book Examinations). "We are also the final year students from the same faculty, representing and voicing the other side of the story and writing this letter to oppose this motion and requesting you to allow the University of Delhi to continue with the ongoing OBE based evaluation only for the pending intermediate exams which was objected by some," the open letter read.
"At a time when they want the OBE to be cancelled so as to relieve us from studying our course subjects, we believe that conducting the OBE will actually help us in diverting our attention from all the negativity around and we will get a much-needed break," it added. This is probably the first time in history that students are considering an exam as a break. These truly are unique times.
The students did not stop there. They went on to say that those who want the exams cancelled are not serious. "Students' mental health is affected when they may have to study and appear for the exams. However, very few of them are those whose concerns are genuine, most of the students are those who are always looking for a way to somehow circumvent the exams and get a degree in hand. They are here not to study the law but to get the degree only. Their seriousness and passion is questionable when it comes to pursuing the LLB," said the students.
Amid the sermonising five reasons for not cancelling the exams, which reiterated using the exam as a 'break' too many times, the students made one compelling point — somehow completing their course to get the degree will decrease their employability. "We understand how difficult it is right now to get a decent job and know it very well that unemployment is one of the biggest sources of adverse mental health and depression and as the quality of education degrades, the rate of unemployment increases, so searching for a reason why not to study will do more harm than good for us," they said.
But students from both sides agreed that at least those who are really affected by the disease should be exempted from the exam. "Unfortunately, there are also some students who have lost their loved ones in the second wave of the pandemic. An exemption in the form of a second chance can be given to them if they show their unwillingness towards the exams right now," said the students.
