E-Paper
Students report glitches as DU begins online registration for tentative annual exams
On Monday, the examination cell of the varsity wrote to principals and heads of department asking them to share the link of the exam portal with its students to fill the “tentative examination form” through the portal.
As Delhi University began the process for online registration of its annual examination on Tuesday, several students reported glitches in the system raising questions over the feasibility of conducting online examination. The last day of submission for the online examination form is May 15.
On Monday, the examination cell of the varsity wrote to principals and heads of department asking them to share the link of the exam portal with its students to fill the “tentative examination form” through the portal.
In the wake of Covid-19 lockdown, there is little clarity over how annual examinations will be conducted in varsities across the country. The universities are waiting for directions from the University Grants Commission which has constituted a committee to look into the matter.
“All information filled by the student and filled examination form has to be checked and verified by the college,” the circular read. It also asked principals and department heads to forward the verified exam forms to the examination branch to release admit cards.
Students who have already submitted forms physically in the colleges also need to fill up or update the online form. While those who have paid the exam fee need not pay again, those who haven’t should either pay it online on the portal or at their colleges when the lockdown is lifted.
Laxmi Shivhare, an undergraduate student studying history, said, “The link is not opening on our system. Even if it opened for some students, they were unable to fill their details. Many students don’t even have smartphones and they are worried about how they will access the portal. If we can’t fill forms, how can we have online exams?”
Another undergraduate student, Gourangi Verma, added, “It usually happens to DU that servers are down initially. So, we are waiting and hoping it gets better in the coming days. Meanwhile, there are memes circulating on social media that a university whose exam portal isn’t working properly is thinking of conducting online exams.”
DU students’ union (DUSU) president Akshit Dahiya said they too had been receiving messages from students over the glitches in the system. “The issue that is that some colleges have not opened a link from the college’s administrative block end. We have assured students that the last date is May 15 and they will be able to register for the exams in the next couple of days,” he said.
DU Academic Council members Seema Das, Richa Raj, Sudhanshu, and Pradeep Kumar along with Executive Council members JL Gupta and Rajesh Jha wrote to the vice-chancellor on the issue.
“While we all are going through the challenging times of Corona pandemic and the lockdown, the university administration is popping up surprises through hastily designed formats and forms. Recent in the series is releasing a “tentative” examination form on April 20 without realising the troubles faced by the students away in North East, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and other remote areas who do not have any internet access or have poor quality access,” they wrote in the letter.
“We have been told that students are facing problems in filling up the online examination form. The students are facing difficulty in accessing the portal, submitting and making corrections. How can the colleges verify the data of students during this lockdown period?” he said.
Vinay Gupta, Dean, Examinations said, “There are minor issues with the portal and it will be fixed immediately.”
