With lockdown extended, varsities brainstorm on ways to conduct exams

With classes being held through video conferencing, several higher educational institutes, including Jamia, had signalled a shift towards the online teaching-learning process in the wake of the lockdown which began on March 24.

With the central government extending the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 till May 3, higher educational institutes across Delhi are now deliberating on how to conduct the annual examination for lakhs of students.

A medical officers step out after testing residents of Jijamata Nagar, Worli, during the nationwide lockdown, imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

While most institutes are waiting for the recommendations of the committee formed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to look into the matter, universities have also conducted internal meetings to brainstorm possible solutions.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Tuesday said it was trying to finalise the process for conducting exams on digital platforms. Keeping JNU’s diverse student population in mind, registrar Pramod Kumar said a “flexible yet efficient” mechanism will be devised based on the recommendations of the deans and chairpersons, which are to be submitted by Thursday, and after wider consultations.

The academic committee has recommended cancelling the summer vacation this year. In its report, it also said students, who will not be able to appear for online examinations due to lack of access to internet connectivity, should be allowed to appear for their exams after the lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Najma Akhtar, vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, said the university had submitted its recommendations to the UGC panel. “Following consultations with our teachers and deans, we have planned to hold five 20-mark online assessments based on each unit of a paper. The best of three will be taken into account as each student’s final score. This will give students an option to better their scores even if they get low marks in one unit assessment,” she said.

With classes being held through video conferencing, several higher educational institutes, including Jamia, had signalled a shift towards the online teaching-learning process in the wake of the lockdown which began on March 24.

“I have asked for departments to share data on how many students were unable to attend classes and for what reason, so that we can find an alternative solution for these students,” Akhtar said, while highlighting the digital divide in a country where high bandwidth internet remains inaccessible to many.

As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, total internet subscribers per 100 population stands at 52.08 as of September 2019. Of the 1,195 million wireline and wireless subscribers, at least 688 million (58%) were internet users. Not just the internet, devices like smartphones and computers are also not available to all. According to the fourth National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2015-16 across more than 6,00,000 households, only 9% of households has a computer.

Keeping this in mind, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) made a list of recommendations to DU vice-chancellor and the UGC. This comes a day after the varsity held a meeting with its deans to discuss modalities of online examination which could be conducted for its nine lakh students. One of the options discussed included submission of answers via audio clips.

“For a large university such as DU, an online examination system is not viable. The university neither has the infrastructure nor the capability of providing/ensuring a level playing field in terms of accessibility and ease to the diverse student population it caters to,” DUTA president Rajib Ray said in its letter to the V-C on Tuesday.

The recommendations listed by DUTA include conducting examinations as soon as universities reopen with priority given to final year students. The teachers’ body also said that shifting to an annual mode of teaching, especially at the undergraduate level, should be seriously considered.

ADMISSIONS

Generally, the May-June period is the time when universities and colleges across the capital conduct admissions for their academic session that begins in July-August. The rescheduling of board examination due to Covid-19 lockdown and delay in academic learning is bound to have a ripple effect, which will affect the admission process as well.

“We will make all efforts to start the new academic session in July. However, it might be difficult to conduct entrance tests at multiple centres outside Delhi as it was done in previous years,” Akhtar said.

“Teachers and administrative officials will wrap up their work for the current academic session by April 30. The work on admission and tests will begin during the summer vacation which is likely to begin in the first week of May.”

Delhi University is also mulling over taking the admission process completely online, including the verification of documents and certifications, to minimise the need for students to visit campuses. JNU has suggested conducting interviews of those who clear the entrance examinations via video conferencing. The Ambedkar University of Delhi said it was consulting faculty members and would not be able to comment on the matter yet.