Panjab University students take to social media against varsity’s plan to hold exams

Students have raised apprehensions as many have to travel back to the campus from different places for the examinations

Students of Panjab University took to social media on Tuesday to protest against the varsity’s plan to conduct semester examinations in July by using the hashtag #PUagainstexams,.

They expressed their concern as the university inches closer to conducting the examinations by issuing a new question paper pattern for final semester examinations.

The social media campaign started by the students to express their discontent over the varsity’s plans which garnered more than 5,000 tweets in just a few hours on Tuesday.

The students demanded that exams should not be conducted this year just like many other educational institutions and they should be promoted on the basis of other criteria.

Students have raised apprehensions as many have to travel back to the campus from different places for the examinations.

“The safety of students should be paramount. We are the future of the nation. We cannot be test samples. Say no to exams. Think of students coming from Kerala, West Bengal, etc,” a student tweeted.

“Conducting exams in such tense times is just sheer stupidity and students are well aware of the university’s preparedness! Stop risking students’ lives for exams,” said another student on twitter.

PU had suspended classes in March in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and many students claimed that there was no proper online teaching and their syllabus is incomplete. However, the university said it is working on the minimum movement policy for the examinations.

The university also issued revised SOPs for examinations on Monday. Besides social media campaigns, student organisations have submitted memorandums to the university expressing their displeasure.

PU’s National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to UT administrator and Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore seeking cancellation of exams at the varsity.

Manoj Lubana of NSUI said, “The chances of Covid-19 spreading will be high as students have to travel from many states. So, we have requested them to cancel examinations promote students on the basis of their previous records.”