The students of Kolkata's Presidency University have appealed to the administration to postpone exams for their internal assessment keeping the increasing cases of COVID-19 in mind. The internal assessment has no particular schedule but the teachers have to finish the assessments within a specified time. While some departments have finished the exams others are yet to conduct them.
The students said that many of their classmates are affected by the virus and wouldn't be possible for them to sit for the exams. "There are students who have caught the virus or their family members are down with COVID. At a time like this, it is impossible to sit for the exams. We have asked the teachers too about this issue but they say their hands are tied. We understand that they too are going through a lot at this point and this will also help them," said Ujan, a first-year student of post-graduation in Economics. "The end-semester exams start only in July and we have the entire June for conducting the internal exams," he added.
But there's another argument as well. How long will you postpone the exams for? Will it be a good idea to conduct the exams when the second wave peaks? "Wouldn't it be even more difficult to conduct an exam when the second wave is supposed to peak? If exams are delayed then the final-year students get affected the most. The internal exams are not scheduled as such. The departments are given a time period by which we have to finish the assessments, " said Dr Zaad Mahmood, Assistant Professor, Political Science Department who empathise with the students. However, he also argued why postponement might not be the answer. "If the exams are conducted in parts it will be helpful for the students. It would add to their burden if the internals is also held with the finals," he added and specified that these do not signify as the official stand of the varsity. The university has not come out with a statement yet.
