Delhi University on Wednesday, informed the Delhi High Court, and made an announcement that there will be no exams in July for final year undergraduate students in view of the pandemic COVID-19 outbreak. The exams are now postponed to august 15 which were earlier scheduled to start from July 10.
Delhi High Court has heard the matter through video conferencing by the single judge bench Justice Pratibha M Singh. She expressed greater disappointment over the varsity’s decision and said, “just see how you are playing the lives of children. You were not fair with the court about your preparedness for holding the online examinations. You are saying you are ready but the minutes of your meeting show the contrary.”
The decision came a day after UGC guidelines which says that universities can hold final semester examinations online or in regular mode or may opt for a blended format. Delhi University had scheduled final semester examinations from July 1 but amid protest from students, the exams were postponed by 10 days and rescheduled from July 10.
A petition was filed by the group of final year students. The petitions concern the conduction of online open-book examinations for the final year students. The petitioners raised several issues arising out of the repeated postponement of final year examinations. It was highlighted that the delay in conduction of examination would have an adverse impact on not only the employment prospects but also on admission to foreign universities.
Some petitioners have suggested that final year examinations be conducted by way of an internal assessment or by considering the average marks of the previous years.
(This news has been written and submitted by Mr. Yogesh Sharma during his course of internship at B&B Associates LLP. Mr. Yogesh is a third-year law student at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali.)
