An online petition initiated by students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on change.org is raising concerns regarding the management's decision to conduct exams in a hybrid mode.
Addressed to the Ministry of Education, CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, Director of II Delhi Prof Ramagopal Rao and others, the petition starts by stating that they fully accept the management's push for offline examinations. But since those who have returned to campus will have to take exams offline while those who haven't will have the option to opt for offline exams, this doesn't offer a level playing field. It calls the policy "logistically harsh, non-uniform and even unfair in some cases."
"We cannot have this for the same reason we don’t have 50 pc students taking JEE at home and the rest being called to exam centres," goes on to state the petition, highlighting various ways in which those who have onboarded suffer simply because they have chosen to onboard. It also asks questions about receiving the notification regarding offline majors on very short notice. "We don't see why the institute did not plan this earlier and why and how it is fair to ask offboarded students to book expensive tickets on a short notice to travel from all over India and onboard again when they should really be preparing for exams," it said.
The petition, which currently has 628 signatures, had also asked questions about reporting to campus on November 10, 2021 and if quarantine will follow and if not, will it not lead to exposure? They also cited an email from Dean (Academics) that states that students who don't fly back in time will not be able to attempt the majors now and will have to take "remajors/may not pass courses this semester on refusal to come back". They ask why this doesn't apply to students who haven't onboarded.
"We demand a uniform and fair policy that addresses the concerns of all. We believe that if the institute is willing to go to this extent to push for offline examinations, they postpone the majors and let everyone onboard," demands the petition and states that if postponement of majors is not possible, at least there should be a uniform policy. They say that if the concerns are not addressed they see some students suffer "institutional neglect".
The latest update, which was on November 4, was that the students had written to authorities. As per a report in The Indian Express, Shantanu Roy, Dean, Academics, said, “There is no scope for any biases. As long as students are there on campus, I don’t see a problem in reporting to the classroom and appearing in exams. The exam is the same for them and what is unfair in appearing in a classroom environment.”
