New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia has announced that the scheduled semester exams, which were to be taken online, have been suspended. The varsity’s decision was based on complaints from several students, who said they would not be able to sit for exams online.
“The university has received various representations from students regarding their problems / problems with proctored exams online,” said the notice released by the university on Saturday night. This decision has been delivered to the Commission for University Scholarships, the notice continued and the UGC’s response is awaited. Once the response is received, the university will make a final decision on how to take the exams, the notice says.
“In the meantime, students are advised to relax and continue their ongoing online classes and exam preparation,” the advisory continued.
The university’s guidelines for taking the ‘Online Proctored Exam Mode’ this year in the wake of the pandemic had distressed students, who said they did not have access to the proper equipment or internet connectivity to take these exams.
The guidelines, released Thursday, say that students must have computers or laptops, a stable internet connection and an uninterrupted power supply on their own for the three-hour exam. They were expected to take the exam using the latest version of the Firefox browser, a Windows laptop or computer with a stable Internet connection, and a webcam.
The guidelines stated: “Only the PC / Laptop will be allowed to appear on the exams, not the smart mobile phone. However, smart phones with cameras can be used to click the image on the answer sheet and upload it to the portal. “
As a mandatory requirement, students were asked to click on the pictures of their handwritten answers using their smartphones and upload them.
Several students had come out to protest against this mode of examination because they said that not everyone has access to laptops, Internet connectivity, smart phones, or stable electricity. They said that this mode of examination is discriminatory and unfair to many of those students who come from rural backgrounds, lower social classes or from regions with highly unstable Internet connectivity such as Jammu and Kashmir.
2g internet in Kashmir
Umair Altaf is a student of the International Business MBA program at Jamia Millia Islamia and a resident of Jammu and Kashmir. He is one of many students who protested against the online exam mode at the university. He said that his dream of becoming a business mogul will suffer if the exams are conducted this way. “I am from a middle-class family in Kashmir and no matter what class my family is, it still seems illogical to take an exam without having a proper internet connection.”
Speaking of the state’s internet connectivity, he said: “I am from a region that survives with a 2g internet connection since the removal of Article 370. Even this 2g is not guaranteed life because from time to time there are encounters that result in the Internet prohibited status. “
He added: “This is very sad as I may not be able to write my exams and therefore my college team will bury my dream alive simply because it is not possible to open a webcam in Kashmir, a simple email takes five minutes to load … “
On Friday, the Jammu and Kashmir Student Association wrote to the Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and the Vice Chancellor of Jamia, Najma Akhtar, asking them to remove the online exam as this places the burden of organizing the infrastructure on the students. students.
Rural environment, no laptop, electricity, internet connectivity
Areeb Nazam is also part of an MBA course at the university. He is a second year student and comes from a small town, Karanpur in the Amorha district, Uttar Pradesh. He said he will face difficulties due to proctored exams online. He explained: “First of all, I don’t have a laptop here and the exam cannot be done without a laptop and even if I host a laptop from somewhere, there are major power problems here as there is no specific time when it arrives and it is very limited to very few hours so if I am using the laptop and there is a power outage, I will not have a proper backup to use the laptop … “
He also said that their internet connectivity is very low and inconsistent. “It is possible that I will face various problems and get disconnected in the middle of my exam. Also, I have never experienced an exam like this, so going straight to my final exams with this technology will not be easy for me, “he said, while urging Jamia’s administration to reconsider their exam methodology as their” career is at stake. “
Amr Kidwai is another student of Jamia Millia Islamia. It comes from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. You also do not have access to a proper internet connection and experience power outages from time to time. He said, “So this method is not viable for me.”
Arif Rizwan is a student in Jamia de Gumla, Jharkhand. “[The online] The mode requires not only a personal laptop / desktop with a webcam and smartphone, but also an uninterrupted internet connection and electricity. ”He said power outages in his district are common and smooth Internet connectivity is a rarity.For a student like him, he continued, it would be almost impossible to sit for these exams.
“Also, this examination method requires that I have a separate room, which is also not possible for me as I live in a small house with my family,” he added.
‘Unfair, insensitive’
Zurriya, another student at Jamia Millia Islamia, said the students were not informed of the test date, or the method, until a few days ago.
She said: “First of all, it’s two devices and I don’t have a laptop. The second and main problem is a stable internet connection. If we disconnect when taking the exam due to a connectivity problem, it will be counted as an unfair means, two warnings will be given and the work will be canceled the third time ”.
He said that he does not have access to a proper internet connection so he was unable to attend classes in his online course. “I cannot take these exams because I am incapable, I do not have a stable internet connection and a laptop. If the university wishes to take such exams, it should provide us with the necessary for such exams. This is unfair. This is insensitivity. “
“Without the proper grades, access to libraries, and guidance from teachers, we cannot take exams in the way expected of us. Several teachers do not even respond to our queries, neither by WhatsApp nor by mail. Instead, even a teacher blocked me as I was asking for their help with my summer training project. Why do the authorities want only students to give their 100%? ” she asked.
He also said that since the university has collected the full fees, the university must ensure that each student is equipped to take their exams. He added: “While teachers have skipped classes, they have refused to help students, they have been ignorant, students have been deprived of a suitable environment, they have been struggling to keep up with their peace of mind and now those tests just put pressure on us and don’t help us. … ”
Jamia PRO Ahmad Azeem had previously said that a meeting was held with students who had come to the university yesterday. In attendance were the Dean, Student Welfare), Senior Supervisor, Safety Advisor, Senior Professors, and other supervisory staff who listened to student concerns.
The university administration has assured the students that their concerns will be considered and will ensure that the exams are carried out with ease. “However, the exams will not be canceled or become an assignment-based project as it is a requirement for students to earn their degrees,” Azeem added, before the exams were suspended. Previously, students had demanded that they be assigned homework instead of having to take an online exam.
Note: This article was updated after Jamia issued a notice suspending online exams.
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