Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University's (AKTU) decision to conduct semester exams online from July is giving sleepless nights to thousands of examinees as many of them do not have a laptop or a desktop. Besides, those who have them are worried about poor internet connectivity. One more worrying factor is the fact that these students don't have any past experience of writing online exam.
Also, the multiple choice-based questions to be asked in the semester examination requires in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. This is an area where many students are again not comfortable due to yearlong online classes owing to the pandemic.
Himanshi Gupta, an MBA student at IMRT Business School, Lucknow, said "I would prefer offline examination because I have never appeared in any online examination. I am nervous. The university should hold a pen-and-paper examination as most students are comfortable with it." She added that during monsoon season internet connectivity remained an issue.
Manish Yadav, 24, an MBA second semester student at a private business school, is very much concerned as how he will cope with these challenges. "Yes, I’m a little worried about online exam and how it will happen. What will be the procedure for taking online exam? The university in its guidelines mentioned about conducting a mock test ahead of the main examination. But one demo test is not just enough," he said.
Utkarsh Gupta, another student, is concerned what would happen if electricity or internet connection got disrupted during the online examination. His tweet reads, "My biggest worry is what will happen if students are unable to submit online answer sheet on time. In that case will this amount to unfair means. Also, will students be given extra time to compensate for the loss of time due to slow internet speed and poor connectivity?"
{{/usCountry}}Utkarsh Gupta, another student, is concerned what would happen if electricity or internet connection got disrupted during the online examination. His tweet reads, "My biggest worry is what will happen if students are unable to submit online answer sheet on time. In that case will this amount to unfair means. Also, will students be given extra time to compensate for the loss of time due to slow internet speed and poor connectivity?"
{{/usCountry}}Many students who live in rural areas of the state are also concerned about internet issues. Taking to twitter, one Aditya Singh said, "Please cancel the online examination because there are more problems in online classes due to network issue. We had bad experiences of attending online classes where students struggle to figure out what teachers are teaching."
Khushi Srivastava of Varanasi said her college was completing the course very rapidly irrespective of the fact whether the students were able to understand or not. "We are facing very bad network quality and video quality is even worse. Teachers are only rushing through the syllabus to complete the course. They are doing only formality without thinking much how students will take examination," she tweeted.
To address students' concern, AKTU announced holding a "demo test" to prepare students for the upcoming even-semester examinations, on Saturday. These examinations are to be held online as offline efforts have been ruled out due to the Covid-19.
When asked, AKTU vice chancellor prof Vinay Kumar Pathak said, "It will be a proctored exam and students facing problem of internet will be compensated with extra time." Another official said those who did not have laptops, desktops or were facing internet problems could visit their colleges to appear in the examination.