New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday allowed Delhi University (DU) to proceed with its online open book examination (OBE) for final year undergraduate students that are scheduled to commence from Monday (10 August).
A bench led by Justice Pratibha Singh approved DU’s OBE with a slew of guidelines to address concerns raised by students on the exam system. The judge ordered DU to comply with its directions and communicate it to the Common Service Centre Academy.
The order came on a petition filed by several students of DU, challenging OBE on the ground that it was discriminatory because many of them did not have access to the internet or books. They also had concerns regarding DU’s preparedness to conduct the exams such as ensuring fast internet access to all students, availability of reading material and facilities for the common service students.
DU had opposed the petition, arguing that online OBE was the best alternative available at the time of a pandemic. The UGC’s rules have also mandated the university to conduct exams for final year students before 30 September.
The HC later asked the university to publish e-mail IDs of all nodal officers, participating colleges and other concerned officials by 8 August.
The grievance officer has been asked to address students’ complaints or queries regarding the examination process within 48 hours. If not, the matter will be referred to the Grievance Redressal Committee that is to be headed by Justice Pratibha Rani, former Delhi High Court judge.
“I wish all the students as well as the university all the best for conducting the exams,” Justice Singh said, after pronouncing the order Friday.
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DU to submit report to Grievance Redressal Committee
The court-mandated guidelines state that question papers will have to be available both on the varsity’s portal and email IDs of students. An additional hour shall be given to students to upload their answer sheets.
An auto-generated email will also be sent informing students about their answer sheets being accepted. The court has asked the university to ensure that its centralised email ID has enough capacity to hold responses from all students.
The court has also given liberty to the Grievance Redressal Committee to look into concerns raised regarding the process of online OBE. It asked the university to submit a report to this committee once the exams are over.
Answer sheets will also be simultaneously forwarded to teachers to ensure expeditious declaration of results, the court ordered. It asked DU to file a compliance report within four weeks and also the Grievance Redressal Committee to submit a report after the completion of three online OBEs.
The court fixed 22 September to ascertain the compliance of its directions.
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Very good update. Happy to read.