DU papers stump students
As many as 15,000 students of Delhi University (DU) appearing for the second semester exam were in for a rude shock when scholars from all honours courses, except English, were supplied incorrect question paper.
As many as 15,000 students of Delhi University (DU) appearing for the second semester exam were in for a rude shock when scholars from all honours courses, except English, were supplied incorrect question paper.
Question papers for both the English language credit course as well as the Sanskrit concurrent course were based on textbooks that the students had not been taught.
Professors claimed that close to 15,000 students were affected by the glitch in the English paper, while 40 students were affected by the glitch in the Sanskrit paper.
Sources said students waited for two hours before they were given the correct, handwritten question paper at 11am.
"This is a very serious issue and close to 15,000 students have been affected by this fiasco. We kept calling the University the moment we realised the error but they did not respond. Finally, we got handwritten, scribbled papers at 11am - two hours after the exam was supposed to begin," said Abha Dev Habib, a DUTA member.
However, university officials blamed it on the respective departments, saying they should have been more careful in finalising and choosing the right paper.
"People must exercise restraint before casting aspersions. Students claimed that they had been supplied the wrong question paper in both Sanskrit and English. But these papers are set by the respective departments," said Dinesh Singh, vice-chancellor, DU.
The error, authorities claimed, crept up because an incorrect code was assigned to the question papers, as a result of which the wrong bundle had been dispatched to colleges.
"We had to look for the original paper and then sent it. The exam branch officials worked very hard to rectify the error," the vice-chancellor added.
But it was not just the matter of wrong question papers. The paper for Hindi language was set for 38-mark and two hours, which would have been 75-mark and three-hour
duration.
"We rectified the paper soon and the students got three hours to write the paper. The marks will be moderated according to a 75-mark paper," said a DU
official.