E-Paper
DU mock test: Fewer glitches but students not convinced
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The second mock open-book examination (OBE) conducted by Delhi University for its final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students on Monday faced fewer glitches than the first one conducted by the university on July 4, students and teachers said.
Concerns over the feasibility of the university’s first-ever open-book exams are, however, far from over.
Naman Biyani, a final-year undergraduate student from Shri Ram College of Commerce, said, “Though there were fewer glitches this time, it can be attributed to fewer students taking the test. Additionally, there is a course-wise timetable for students to appear for the mock tests in different slots. Server load today was distributed slot-wise but that won’t happen in our exams so we don’t really know how it might work out.”
Despite calls and messages, Dean (Exams) Vinay Gupta was unavailable for a comment.
“There can be several reasons behind the glitches such as internet connectivity, file format, or poor speed. However, students will get multiple chances to upload the documents,” said a senior DU official, requesting anonymity.
The university had on July 15 announced that it would conduct the first phase of mock tests, beginning Monday, in three sessions on all three days according to a course-wise timetable.
This was after the first mock OBE, conducted on July 4, was marred by several glitches such as trouble uploading or downloading documents and server error on the website.
Saloni Singh of Gargi College, who faced issues with the timer, which did not show the correct stipulated time of three hours on Monday, said, “The question paper was simple and generic. While we understand that this mock exam was to test the upload and download facilities, it would have benefitted more if we had actual sample question papers. The real mock test will be conducted only a week before the final exams, leaving us with little time to practice writing answers for a completely new pattern of the question paper.”
Between August 1 and 4, the university is set to hold another round of mock exams based on “real-time and single paper of each program of the final semester or year.” The open book exams are scheduled for August 10-31.
Students said that since Monday’s test was conducted more than three weeks after the July 4 practice exams, the portal could have been more functional by providing sample question papers instead of generic questions.
Charu Sharma, a final-year student at Rajdhani College, was among those students. “I faced errors in downloading the question paper and later I couldn’t upload my answer sheets despite rebooting my phone several times. I had to give my login ID password to my friend who stays in another part of the city to upload the PDF file from my account. This won’t be possible during the final exams. Though the varsity has made arrangements at respective colleges, how can I take the risk of travelling in public transport during a pandemic?” she asked.
The Rama Vihar resident, whose college is nearly 20 km from her home, said the university’s proposal to conduct offline exams later gives an undue advantage to those students who have internet facilities and can hence appear for OBE in August.
The Delhi University Teachers Association, which has been demanding scrapping of the exams, said several students faced similar problems during Monday’s tests.
DUTA treasurer Abha Dev Habib, who teaches at Miranda House, said, “We haven’t seen as many complaints [as July 4 mock test]. This might be because students have been demoralised as they have been writing letters to various agencies and approached courts since May. Along with Covid-19, floods in Bihar and Assam are also an issue for students from that region. It is unfortunate that the focus is now on exams instead of teaching-learning during a pandemic.”
