DU exams to be five hour long for PWD students
Delhi University on Thursday said that the total duration of the online open book examination exam for the differently-abled students will be five hours. The varsity has decided to go for open book exams (OBE) in view of the situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite opposition from students and teachers. Delhi University has provided colleges and departments with specific guidelines to ensure that students belonging to the persons with disability (PWD) category who wish to avail the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure facilities for downloading question papers and uploading answer sheets should be allowed the same following the guidelines of social distancing, the varsity said.
The students can request for scribes from their respective colleges and departments, it said. In case the students are taking exams at Common Service Centres (CSC), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, they can bring scribes of their choice, the varsity said. CSCs have been “briefed to take care of the students in resolving issues related to the ICT infrastructure facilities and any technical help required by the students during the examinations”, said the guidelines. The students, as per the guidelines, can send their representations or queries related to the OBE to the Dean (Examinations) through email at dean_exam@du.ac.in.
These guidelines are for final-year students only as Delhi University cancelled exams for first-year and second-year students. The university's decision to implement open book exams had met with criticism from various student and teacher bodies. Open book examination were opted as a one-time alternative considering the COVID-19 pandemic which has thrown the academic schedule across the country into disarray.