OBE Protest: With the Delhi High Court refusing to intervene in the Delhi University offline semester trial for May and June, Varsity students have now gone to the Department of Education with a memorandum for online exam requirements. on the Open Book Exam(OBE).
OBE Protest in DU:
Other universities across the country such as the University of Allahabad, which conducts examinations for final year students online in OBE format, and Banaras Hindu University, which conducts multidisciplinary tests, were forced to postpone their previous decision for offline exams. this semester after major student protests.
At Allahabad University, students reportedly doused themselves with paraffin during the unrest. Jamia Millia Islamia has also announced that online tests will be conducted for students who have attended their online classes. The Chhattisgarh government has also announced that tests at universities will be conducted online or in hybrid mode only. This decision was based on the response of institutions and students.
In view of these conditions, protesting students at DU believe that offline tests put them at a disadvantage because their score may be lower than that of online book writing tests. Therefore, on April 12, when students gathered at Jantar Mantar to register their protest against the administration of the University of Delhi, their team was taken to meet some officials at the Ministry of Education. There, students want online and hybrid exams to be held by all universities or not, in order to achieve equality.
Also read: DU students protests at famous Jantar Mantar, Delhi: Education minister says.
“They heard us and admitted that it was wrong. We have been called to the next meeting with the Department on Monday, April 18,” said Ankur Dhama, who was part of the team. Apart from the fact that this method is not fair, the students also say that they have no way to stay for a month in Delhi to write exams.
“The issue of accommodation has been raised and university officials have not made any effort to build more hostels which is why students have to rely on current PGs which cost about R21 000 as rent instead of R7 000. They were charging before the closure,” said Dham. This is especially true for foreign students from countries such as Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana and others, where students face financial difficulties after the epidemic and are unable to stay in Delhi for a month to write exams, ”he added.
Aside from accommodation problems, students complained that they were given just one month of offline classes to understand the concepts during the six months of the semester. “In fact, online classes are still underway in a few courses, and textbooks have not been distributed to all subjects,” said Dhama, Delhi’s president, of the Indian National Students’ Organization (INSO).
Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), a student organization, staged a protest on Thursday outside the Department of Education against allegations of malpractice at Delhi University School of Open Learning (SOL), non-initiation of offline classes, and non-provision of learning resources. The protesters were briefly detained by Delhi police. Meanwhile, SOL’s Principal Principal, Uma Shankar Pandey, called the protest “a community focus for a few people”.
KYS said 100 students participated in protests outside the service. Several KYS activists were arrested at the Mandir Marg police station but later released. “Thirty-three people, including men and women, were arrested but later released,” said a police official.
KYS said the delegation met with a senior official of the Department of Education to report on the news and “rampant corruption in SOL.” The team also submitted a list of requirements, including a high-level investigation into “mismanagement and corruption. “SOL, KYS has been notified. for first year students until March, and the exams will start in March itself, ”the KYS statement said.
