Students of professional courses join the chorus for online exams

In February, the University of Mumbai released a circular stating that upcoming summer 2022 exams will be held in online as well as offline modes

Mumbai: Students pursuing professional courses are now demanding that their exams be held in online mode. This comes days after students from colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai objected to only autonomous colleges announcing offline exams while the university will hold them online.

While the varsity has received complaints from several students, officials told HT that there’ll be no change in plan. (HT FILE)

Students from professional degrees have taken to social media to share their problems with hopes of reaching the examination authorities for a common mode of examination for all students this year.

“Classes for first-year students of most professional courses, including MBA engineering, pharmacy, architecture and law, began only in January or February this year because admissions were delayed. After cramming one full semester’s curriculum in 6-8 weeks of online classes, now we are being asked to appear for offline exams. How is this fair?” asked a first-year MBA student.

In February, the University of Mumbai released a circular stating that upcoming summer 2022 exams will be held in online as well as offline modes.

All UG exams for commerce, arts and science semester 2 regular and backlog will be conducted offline. However, backlog (ATKT) exams for semesters 1, 3 and 5 and backlog as well as regular exams for semester 4 will be conducted in online mode this year.

In the case of PG exams, semesters 2 and 4 regular as well as backlog will be conducted in the offline mode whereas backlog exams for semesters 1 and 3 will be conducted online for all commerce, arts and science courses.

“Offline exams for PG students will include 50% multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 50% descriptive type questions,” highlighted the MU circular.

In the first week of March, MU released another statement confirming that semester 6 exams for traditional (aided and unaided) courses will be conducted in online mode this year, whereas those for professional courses will be held in offline mode. This has sparked a debate amongst students who feel everyone should be judged on an equal platform.

“Many colleges have now started opening up their hostels, but some of us will have to look for accommodation on our own over the next few weeks and then appear for exams in physical mode while the TYBCom and TYBSc students will appear for exams online. The University should have called for examination in a similar mode for all,” said a first-year engineering student. Most colleges have already released the exam timetable with students.

While the varsity has received complaints from several students, officials told HT that there’ll be no change in plan. “As of now, we are going ahead with the original plan where some exams will be held online and rest will be held in offline/physical mode. We are trying to slowly ease students into offline exams,” said Vinod Patil, director, Board of Examination and Evaluation (BoEE), MU.