Delhi University's 'open book' online exam raises concern among teacher and student bodies

Delhi University's decision to hold 'open-book' mode online exams for post-graduate and under-graduate exams, if the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't normalise, has drawn criticism from student bodies as well as teachers.

Notably, students would be allowed to refer to their notes, and other study materials to answer the questions after they download question papers for their respective course from the web portal sitting at home, and upload the answers in two hours.

Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) termed the system to conduct examinations "discriminatory" and "unfair". "It is not viable for a large University like DU, with its diverse student population, and it is shocking that the institute has adopted it as the only form. We demand that the pen-paper option be given to all students," DUTA said.

DUTA has also written a letter to the University's Vice-Chancellor to scrap the 'open-book' system of examination. It also suggested that provisional degrees should be handed out to based on their Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of five semesters.

Delhi University's Executive Council members have also written to the VC regarding the issue.

They argued that this system of examination 'will push higher education towards privatization by devaluing its degrees and diluting their rigour', adding that 'pedagogy of DU and its examination system' are not suited for open book examinations. It reportedly held a survey in which 74% students were against holding of exams online.

"In a time of health crisis, the DU administration must take into account the students coming from the marginal sections of the society. Students have cited various reasons such as connectivity, resources, lack of material and online classes for rejecting online exams. The voice of students must be listened to," PTI quoted the organisation as saying.

On May 15, the student organisation will hold a social media campaign #DuAgainstOnlineExams.

Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) stated that first and second-year students should be promoted on the basis of their performance in the previous semester while the final year students should be evaluated on their past scores and be given 10% extra marks since students tend to score more in their final year.

The NSUI has started an online petition against the particular system of examination which already has more than 60,000 signatories.