Delhi University postpones final year exams to June 7

New Delhi: Delhi University (DU) on Thursday postponed semester exams for final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students for the second time and announced that these will now commence on June 7.

The exams, which will now be held in the open-book format online, were earlier scheduled to start from May 15 but were postponed to June 1 owing to the spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases across the country.

Dean of examinations DS Rawat said the university has decided not to conduct exams for students of intermediate semesters -- first and second-year students-- and to promote them on the basis of internal assessments. “We will conduct online open-book exams -- the way it was done last year -- for final semester students from June 7. Detailed guidelines will be issued on Friday,” he said.

In the last academic session, DU had conducted open-book exams (OBE) online for final year students in August, amid widespread opposition from students and teachers. The university also conducted another round of OBE in October for students who could not appear in the first round.

This year, too, several students and teachers have questioned the feasibility of conducting exams amid the raging pandemic. Abhigyan, a final-year BA (Hons) in Political Science student at Ramjas College and a member of the All India Students Association (AISA), said the association had conducted a survey of over 2,000 students across DU colleges who were overwhelmingly against holding exams amid the pandemic.

“Many students have lost their loved ones and their families are witnessing huge financial crises. How can we expect students to take their exams in such a situation? The university should come up with some alternative mode of assessment for this year, considering the unprecedented times we are living in,” he said.

Rajesh Jha, a faculty member at Rajdhani College and former member of the university’s executive council, said, “Both teachers and students have been going through tough times. DU has lost over 35 teachers in the past month to the pandemic. Several students have lost their family members, including parents. The university should review its decision to conduct exams.”

Rawat, meanwhile, said the varsity will ensure that “no students is left behind”. “DU Colleges are conducting practical exams in the online format these days and as per the data collected from over 15 colleges, over 97%-98% students are appearing for these exams… In case any student won’t be able to sit for the exams owing to any reason, the university shall surely help them,” he said.