NEW DELHI: Thousands of students of the Delhi University on Friday took social media by storm, using the hashtag #DUAgainstOnlineExams, protesting against the varsity’s decision to conduct open-book online examinations (OBE) for final year students on July 1 if the COVID-19 outbreak does not normalise.
The online campaign, which had over 48,000 tweets till Friday evening, has already garnered around 65,000 signatures of students against the OBE.
The petition was started by students' union National Student Union of India (NSUI) and Left-backed All India Student Association (AISA) and Student Federation of India (SFI). Within a few hours, the #DUAgainstOnlineExams became the top trending on the microblogging site.
Besides, the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU), the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has also submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor opposing the idea of online examination. The Krantikari Yuva Sanghtan (KYS) student group of School of Open Learning (SOL) has also joined the protest. About 3 lakh students, including members of the SOL and the NCWEB, are in the final year of the university. Of them, 75 per cent are outside Delhi and are against the exams, claims the AISA.
"I could not join the campaign as we have 2G network here, but I completely support the protest. It takes time to access a social media site, even WhatsApp messages take to deliver. I missed many online classes due to the poor network. In the three-hour examination, it will take an hour for me to download the question paper," said Radhika Agarwal, a resident of Jammu and a student of Maitereyi College.
Delhi University teachers also opposed the move. “Such a pattern needs training for teachers and students. The university still has time to change its decision,” said Rajesh Jha, member of executive council and AAD.
Petition on open book exam
The petition was started by students' union NSUI and Left-backed AISA and SFI. Within a few hours, the hashtag became the top trending on the Twitter. The hashtag had over 48,000 tweets till Friday