‘Students scapegoats of half-baked policies’: DU professor on semester exams amid Delhi heat wave

Amid Delhi heat wave, a Delhi University professor expressed concern about students appearing for their end-semester exams in the extreme climatic conditions, holding DU administration accountable for the situation, with its implementation of CUET-based admissions leading to late admissions and delayed academic calendar.

In an open letter to DU vice-chancellor, Rudrashish Chakraborty, associate professor at Kirori Mal College and elected DUTA Executive member, brought his attention to the news reports of the last few days, apprising of a heat wave sweeping the national capital, specifically where the university is located and criticised the decision to adopt Common University Entrance Test (CUET). “...students of semester 2 have to appear for their end-semester exams in this unbearable heat: only because the academic calendar of the first year students has been compromised owing to the unmitigated mess in the name of CUET, leading to a late admission every year."

"Please note that this is not happening for the first time: since you began your tenure as the Vice Chancellor, your insistence on joining the CUET bandwagon for admission in DU and to continue with the same despite the adverse outcomes has created this situation of perpetual chaos in the University. And the biggest victims of the obstinacy of your administration on the matter have been teachers and students for the last three years: they have to suffer in this scorching heat for no fault of theirs!,” the associate professor said in a statement.

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The professor urged Singh and other top officials to personally experience the harsh exam conditions by invigilating in non-AC top-floor classrooms to understand the plight of students and teachers.

DU semester exams, Delhi heatwave

“Why should the students who appear for their exams and the teachers who invigilate in this scorching heat have all the fun? Why cannot your administration partake in the glory which is there in having examination in the sweltering month of June? Sir, it is very easy to formulate policies in AC rooms of the Viceregal Lodge and expect that the same can be implemented without any effort or investment on the same. However the implementation of such policies happens at a heavy cost: borne by the hapless students and teachers who are made the guinea pigs and the scapegoats in the process,” the DUTA member remarked.

Questioning the administration’s insensitivity, the professor said, “Sir, will your administration take responsibility if any mishap occurs to any student or teacher for being coerced into this examination in this absolutely hostile weather where everyday there are reports of casualties owing to heat stroke or any other health hazard? Do you think it is human to let students and teachers fend for themselves in this heat just to comply with the half-baked policies of the University administration? The teachers and the students of this University look forward to a satisfactory answer to these crucial questions.”

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CUET-based admissions

Regretting not zero changes in student-friendly policies, the KMC professor recalled that despite less popularity among students, the earlier vice-chancellors of the university never failed to adopt student-friendly policies to ease their life in the University. “Regrettably that is not the case in the last three years: where the students invariably have been subject to extreme hardship during the peak summer months when the end-semester exams are conducted: only because the University of Delhi led by your good self has decided to abdicate its own admission policy and to be part of the CUET which has been an embarrassment without exception every year.”

Harshly remarking that he feels and cares for the university and the VC considers his term merely as a stepping stone to further his career in future, having no sense of belonging to this university, the DU associate professor demanded immediate corrective actions so that the students do not have to suffer in the near future. “Otherwise my apprehension will be proved correct: and you will be remembered by the students and the teachers of this University as a Vice Chancellor who never cared,” he said.