With the Delhi High Court refusing to interfere in the matter of Delhi University's proposed offline exams for the even semester to be held in May and June, students of the varsity have now approached the Ministry of Education with a memorandum of demands to conduct the exams online in the Open Book Exam (OBE).
Some universities across the country such as Allahabad University, which is conducting exams for final-year students online in the OBE format, and Banaras Hindu University, which is conducting exams in the hybrid mode, were forced to rollback their earlier resolution of offline exams for this semester after large-scale protests from the students. At Allahabad University, students had reportedly doused themselves with kerosene during the agitation. Jamia Millia Islamia had also announced that online exams will be conducted for students who attended their classes online. The Chhattisgarh government has also announced that exams in universities will be conducted online or in the hybrid mode only. This decision was taken as per the feedback from institutions and students.
Given these instances, the protesting students at DU believe that offline exams put them at a disadvantage since their scores are likely to be lower than those writing open book exams online. Therefore, on April 12, when students gathered at the Jantar Mantar to register their protest against the Delhi University administration, a delegation of them was taken to meet some officials at the Ministry of Education. There, the students demanded that either online and hybrid exams be held by all universities or by none, in the interest of equality. "They have heard us and they did agree that it was unfair. We have been called for a follow-up meeting with the Ministry on Monday, April 18," says Ankur Dhama, who was a part of the delegation.
Apart from the method being unfair, the students also claim that they do not have the means to stay in Delhi for a month to write the exam. "We brought up the matter of accommodation with the university officials. They did not put in the effort to build more hostels and that's why students have to rely on PGs, which are now charging anywhere around Rs 21,000 as rent, instead of the Rs 7,000 they were charging before the lockdown," says Dham.
"This is particularly impacting foreign students from countries such as Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana and others, where students are facing a financial crunch after the pandemic and cannot afford to stay in Delhi for a month to write the exams," he adds.
Accommodation issues aside, students complain that they have been given just one month of offline classes to really understand concepts over the six months of the semester. "In fact, online classes are still going on for a few courses, and study material hasn't been shared for all courses," says Dhama, who is the State President, Delhi, of the Indian National Students' Organisation (INSO).
