BENGALURU: The expert committee set up by the state government following the suicide of a BTech student of PES College has recommended an ‘open-book examination’ and replacing marks with grades to prevent student suicides due to academic pressure.
Commenting on the recommendation by the 11-member committee, headed by Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor Dr Jayakar SM, Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar told TNIE, “We have received the report and one of the major suggestions is to go for open-book examination. The experts recommended this system to curb malpractice and to reduce the pressure on students.”
Sudhakar stated that this was a different manner of assessment and added that the existing system cannot be changed all of a sudden. “We have to get to the entire depth of the suggestion and take the opinion of multiple experts on the topic. We have to weigh the pros and cons and then come to a conclusion,” he said.
Former BU V-C Venugopal K R told TNIE that the need of the hour was to introduce open-book examinations and not to fail any student. He batted for students being given options to improve and overcome any fear and the open-book examination will boost the confidence of students.
“Open-book examination is tougher than closed-book examination. It is a different approach towards exams and will boost the confidence of students. In developed countries and some leading educational institutions like IIT, this method is followed.
A student might fail in one subject, but he may excel in projects, research, public speaking etc. and he has to be given marks for all of them.” He called for replacing marks with grades.
Niranjan Aradhya, an expert in public education, said, “Before introducing the open-book examination format, we should check the feasibility and if our colleges have the needed infrastructure. In many colleges, there are even no adequate faculty members.”