Over 170 DU teachers ask VC to not hold online exams, say will compromise sanctity

Over 170 teachers of the Delhi University have urged Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi to not consider holding online open-book exams, saying the move is "least desirable in the current situation" and risks compromising the sanctity of the examination process.

DU has said it will hold online open-book exams for students in case the coronavirus situation does not improve, triggering opposition from a section of students and teachers. On Wednesday, some teachers and students launched an online campaign against the move.

However, in their letter to the VC, the teachers suggested alternatives, saying the final semester students be passed based on internal assessments for this semester and not be assigned any grades for this semester's papers. "The overall grade of the students should thus be the one achieved till the last semester... Many universities in the US are following this or a similar method," they said in the letter.

They also suggested that the grades for the current semester be constituted based on the performance of the previous semesters along with a component of their gardens in internal assessments.

The economics professors said there are "very serious hindrances" to time-bound online open-book examinations in the pattern suggested by the university.

Many students have gone back home without proper study material due to lockdown and many of them reside in cramped spaces and the domestic situation might not be conducive for them to write an exam, they said.

"There are also serious issues about the sanctity of the exams. As this is designed to be online examinations, how will the university ensure that the answers that the students are uploading are not copied from each other (through parallel internet communication) or dictated by someone else?