Lockdown 2.0: Mumbai U students against online exams, demand promotion

Abhay Anand | April 25, 2020 | 05:09 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Lockdown 2.0 is in its last phase and the central and the state governments have not given any clarity on the plan for education after May 3 when the lockdown is scheduled to end. The University of Mumbai, which has over eight lakh students enrolled in various programmes has also postponed its undergraduate and postgraduate examinations till May 3.

The second time postponement of the examination has only added to the anxiety of the students as they are not just worried about their health but are also clueless about their exams. Mumbai is one of the worst-hit cities by the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Ajinkya Mane, a first-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) Information Technology (IT) student of the university said that Mumbai has been especially affected by this pandemic. He said: “Mumbai University even in this pandemic is bent on holding exams. Every time they postpone the dates it adds to our anxiety, as if the pandemic was not enough. This is not the time to ponder upon how the exams should be conducted, instead, we should be thinking about the safety of our families as well as ourselves.”

A large section of students is now demanding that they be promoted without exams and on the basis of their previous semester results.

Difficult for Mumbai

Mumbai is home to a large portion of India’s population with people coming from varied financial backgrounds. Many students have travelled back to their villages due to the lockdown and can no longer access the internet. Hence online exams and online learning are a difficult proposition for them. Students living in their hostels have also gone to their homes without books, notes and other study material.

Another student of the B.Sc IT course who did not wish to be identified said: “The recent weeks have been terrifying, to say the least, with Mumbai being the most affected city in the country. The amount of cases increasing in our city every day is quite alarming. Our city is home to the world's largest slum, where the concept of social distancing is a myth. More than myself, I worry about my parents. Since the virus has an adverse effect on the elderly. The atmosphere right now is not at all conducive for a student to sit down and study.”

The students are also worried about the proposal from some quarters to conduct online examination. The student added that every student is not well-equipped, access to the internet is still a distant dream for some in the financial capital of our country, it would be unfair to conduct online exams.

Online exams

However, the Maharashtra Government has said that decision about holding university level exam in the state will be taken after the University Grants Commission (UGC) comes up with its guidelines.

As per a statement issued by the office of the Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Uday Samant, no decision had been taken about conducting examinations online and any decision will be taken only after instructions from the UGC, while online classes are being run smoothly.

Nigel Thomas (name changed), who is pursuing Bachelor's in Hospitality Studies said that the university is claiming that their syllabus is being completed smoothly through online lectures, which is not true. “Students like us lack the study materials to prepare for their exams and the situation gets out of hand as every passing day,” Thomas said.

He also added that the university is very adamant about conducting exams soon. He said: “If they announce interim vacation that easily means we are bound to forget what is taught to us and we need a thorough revision that cannot happen online. We lack notes too because most of the stuff taught to us is on presentations. We need hardcopies of those and well as reference books. I think for once an exception can be made and the university could promote all students.”

Demand for Promotion

Many students of the university are demanding that they be promoted to the next class based on the marks they received in their previous semester examination. Some of the private universities in the state promoted their students to the next year like this, they claim. Thomas said: “The university can easily average the marks of our first semesters and promote us so we could start the next semester as soon as possible.”

However, Mumbai University is also still waiting for the UGC’s directions on dealing with the post lockdown scenario. The expert committee constituted by the UGC has submitted its recommendation and the commission is likely to come up with the measures soon.