After the students of Mumbai University approached Uday Samant, the Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra, to discuss their concerns regarding the proposed offline exams by Mumbai University, the university has issued a set of mandates that are aimed at providing relief to the students. The circular was issued on April 21, 2022, which stated that though the exams will not be taken online, extra time would be provided to the students to write the exams, along with the question paper pattern, practice questions and accommodations to students who require it.
“This would come as an ease,” says Faisal Shaikh, the state Vice-President of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). He clarifies that though he was initially campaigning for online exams, after meeting with Minister Samant, he has now seen offline exams as apt. "Industries are demanding offline exams. And the autonomous colleges too are keen on offline exams. Their concerns lie in the fact that online exams might degrade their levels,” he added.
Talking about the situation now, he says, “Now there are two categories of students. One set is still calling for online exams. But we have understood that online exams will not be fruitful in the long run. The state has addressed all our concerns. The university has provided us with an extra time of 15 minutes for every hour to write the exam, allowing an extra 45 minutes in total. 70-80% of the syllabus was covered online and, due to this, though we wanted more time to write offline exams, what we have been given is also fine,” he added. He also mentioned that the university had allowed them a gap of two days between each of the exams and, thus, there would be no consecutive exams.
When supporting the call for online exams, Faisal says, “Our delegation was supported by Varsha Gaikwad, the Maharashtra School Education Minister. She headed our delegation and made it possible for us to meet the State Higher and Technical Education Minister at his official residence. A 45-minute interview took place. And we came to understand the demand of industries and the fact about autonomous colleges. After that, we asked for our concerns to be addressed and they were immediately considered. The decision was taken immediately by the Mumbai University."
The university has not specified anything in its mandate as yet, relating to who will be provided the accommodations. So, Faisal says, “We will be speaking on that on Monday, April 25. We are planning an official meet with the Controller of Examinations and the Vice-Chancellor and also another meeting with the Higher and Technical Education Minister. We will suggest that they provide accommodations to those who are having exams right now and then make arrangements for others. We will also suggest making it on a first-come-first-serve basis,” he adds.
