Delhi University is going to commence it’s online OBE exams from today while the students are taking various measures to be able to appear for exams. Some students have moved to their relatives or friend’s houses while some will be visiting there nearby cyber cafes, some have made arrangements for power banks while some have borrowed the devices. In view of coronavirus pandemic, the University has declared the open book exams as a one time measure.
The University received immense criticism from final year students and university professors in the last two months, however, the High Court has finally given the approval to conduct exams. Open Book Exams for over 2,40,000 final year students are going to commence from August 10 and will continue till August 31. The OBE exams are being conducted for regular, Non-collegiate Women’s education board (NCWEB), and School of Open Learning (SOL).
On Friday, the University of Delhi received the green signal from Delhi HC to conduct online OBE.
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Students Struggling to Make Arrangements For Online OBE
A final year student at Ramjas, Amal K Simon said he and his batchmates are stuck in the areas which are experiencing heavy rainfall. He added that they are trying hard to make some arrangements to somehow attempt their exams without any last-minute issues.
Amal said that they have made arrangements for spare mobile phones and power banks as they are experiencing regular power cutoffs due to heavy rain. He further added that many of his friends have to leave for their relatives or friend’s place to get a decent internet connection. Even he will be traveling to his friend’s house for today’s examination as he does not have wi-fi at his home.
DU EXAM: STEP BY STEP GUIDE FOR DU OBE EXAM
As per the directions given by Delhi HC, DU will give four hours to students to complete and upload their answer scripts. The students will be required to download their question papers, write down their exams, and further have to upload their answer scripts within the stipulated time of four hours.
However, disabled students will be given an additional two hours to complete their online OBE.
A 21-year-old final year student, Mohit studying BA program at SOL said the internet connectivity in his area is so less that he could not even upload or email his answer sheets.
Mohit said that he will either have to visit the cyber cafe or have to borrow his neighbor’s laptop as he does not own a laptop at home.
Whereas a Political Science student at Rajdhani College, Hitesh Sharma said he is stuck with the low connectivity at his home in Kathua district of Jammu. Hitesh said that they have only 2G internet connectivity at Jammu and it takes very long to even download images from WhatsApp. He is concerned about how he will download the exam paper and further upload his answer sheets. Sharma added that his parents are not allowing him to visit any CSC center due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
Vinay Gupta, Delhi University’s Dean of exams despite various endeavors did not respond to the issues of students.
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DU Prepared for Smooth Conduct of Online OBE
An official from the examination department of Delhi University said that the DU is prepared to conduct online OBE smoothly. Nodal officers have been appointed in every DU colleges to address the queries of students. Any student facing a problem can reach out to the appointed nodal officers for help. In case a student is unable to upload his/her answer scripts on the portal, he/she can email on the ID provided by their respective colleges.
Furthermore, the official added that the online OBE is completely optional and if a student fails to appear in online exams, he/she can appear for offline exams when the situation gets stable.
Abha Dev Habib, a member of DUTA said that only less than half of the students could appear for DU mock tests and the University is still conducting online OBE. She asserted that she hopes the failure to appear for online OBE does not demoralize the students.
