Delhi University electives exam turns chaotic as question papers dispatched late

Some of the morning session examinations, which were supposed to be conducted between 9.30am and 12.30pm, did not start till 2pm.

Question papers for several discipline-specific electives (DSE) across several colleges of Delhi University were not dispatched on time, causing chaos and creating confusion among students, and inviting severe criticism from faculty members.

Delhi University electives exam turns chaotic as question papers dispatched late

Some of the morning session examinations, which were supposed to be conducted between 9.30am and 12.30pm, did not start till 2pm.

In the latter half of the day, the university issued a notice, saying, “This is to notify all concerned that approx. 800 papers were scheduled for the morning session today and due to some logistical issues, few papers could not be dispatched and the same could not be conducted at some examination centres.”

The notice, signed by the controller of examinations, read, “It is hereby informed that the said logistical issue was subsequently rectified, and the question papers were successfully sent thereafter. However, the students of Honours Courses who have to appear in three Core subjects were given four slots ... (they) can appear in the subsequent three slots, while for Program Courses revised schedule/date(s) for the affected paper(s) shall be announced and notified separately in due course and will be conducted by the second week of January, 2026.”

The university further advised students to regularly visit the university website for updates.

Dinesh Khattar, the principal of Kirori Mal College (KMC), said, “Of the DSE papers scheduled for the day, our college had students for six such papers. The papers were delayed and we were asked to keep the students seated while the university figured out the issue.”

The principal of another prominent DU college, who did not wish to be named, told HT that question papers for about 30 subjects had not arrived on time.

“Most of the papers arrived by 11.30am but some even later. This was very concerning and something we have never seen in DU before. The chaos and the stress among students that we saw today was also natural, as the university had not told us what to do for hours and had simply asked us to keep the students waiting,” the principal said.

Professors pointed out that the introduction of several elective papers under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has led to chaos.

“Some morning shift exams started as late as 1pm. Imagine stress among students and teachers and those responsible at college level for the conduct of exams,” said Abha Dev Habib, a professor at Miranda House

Habib said, “NEP driven four-year UG programme has led to increased number of examinations because of increase in number of papers per semester, increase in choices and additional year. Examination work has increased manifold. This is leading to a systemic collapse.”

A physics student from Ramjas College, who did not wish to be named, said, “I have never felt so anxious in my life. There was no information at all regarding what to expect. My elective paper did come till about two hours after the exam was supposed to start. Some exams, however, got cancelled. This is so unexpected that it can happen in a university like DU.”