Delhi university recently released a portal for all Regular and ex students for filling up an examination form. It has put thousand of students in a fix as a poor internet connectivity and heavy traffic on the website have proved to be a major hassle.
As soon as the varsity launched the online portal on its website, panic soon gripped those stuck at their native homes in remote areas without books, computers and study material.“I tried opening the link but it kept crashing and hasn’t opened since. It’s only been loading all this while. I don’t have a system here at home and my typing speed is very low. Being Commerce students, calculations are very important. I do not know, how one is us supposed to give exams online without any training,” said a Sairam, a B.Com second-year student.
Sheikh Raisha Tabassum, a second-year Political Science student of Hindu college, was unable to open the varsity website itself. “I am currently at Northeast India, and here in villages, there is no network connection. Poeple like me are unable to connect to the internet.”
“First they started with online classes and online examination forms, next will be online examinations. This is a way to promote the ‘New Education Policy’, which promotes online examination,” said Pankaj Kumar Garg, Mathematics professor, also convenor, INTEC and former member of the Academic Council.
“Given the various types of courses offered by the university, applying the same model for assessment is unjustified… Good typing speed is required for theoretical papers. By adopting this method, the university is creating an unequal playing field in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds wouldn’t be treated fairly,” added Garg.
Vinay Gupta, dean, examination branch, said, “The university has not taken a decision yet to conduct online examinations. A student portal has been launched so that students can fill their examination forms. This online platform has been created due to the lockdown. Also, on the first day, due to heavy traffic, the website has been slow; it will function better in a day or two.”Gupta added, “On day one, about 35 to 40 thousand students filled the examination form.”
