In what may come as a temporary relief to students, the University of Delhi (DU) has been asked by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry to postpone its controversial Open Book Examinations for final-year students to August, said a source familiar with the matter.
According to the source, the decision was taken at a meeting with DU officials, which was chaired by HRD Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal. Although Pokhriyal tweeted that the ministry had discussed a “synchronized calendar for DU admissions & CBSE examination results etc,” he did not mention anything about the directive.
While asserting that the decision was taken following UGC’s revised guidelines, the source said that it was not possible to provide an exact date for exams.
“It has been postponed till August, but it is not possible to say when the exams would take place.”A source
Earlier on Tuesday, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had said that final-year university examinations may be conducted by the end of September, either online, offline or through a combination of both.
Meanwhile, final-year students at the University of Delhi have have been demanding that they be marked on the basis of internal assessment and marks scored in previous semesters.
Students say since OBEs require a stable internet connection to download question papers and upload answer sheets, it is not feasible for the economically-weak and those in remote areas of the country to appear for these examinations.
While DU says that students without internet access can avail of Academic Common Service Centres, an exclusive report by The Quint has shown how many of these centers are not even aware of OBEs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)