Delhi University postpones open book exams; new date sheet to be released on 3 July at du.ac.in

The Delhi University (DU) has deferred its open book exams, which were slated to be conducted from 1 July. The new date sheet for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including School of Open Learning (SOL) and Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB), of final semester exam will be released on 3 July and the papers will begin from 10 July. “The mock test to facilitate students appearing for examinations for awareness about the procedures of OBE mode, to be conducted remotely, shall start from 04.07.2020,” said the varsity in a notification. Students are allowed to take help of books, notes and other study materials to answer the questions in the open book exams. Those appearing for the exam will have to download question papers for their course from the portal and upload the answer sheet in stipulated time. The open book examination mode has been adopted by Delhi University as a one-time measure for academic session 2019-20 in light of the coronavirus pandemic. However, many teachers and various student unions have opposed the university’s decision to hold the online or open book test. They say that many students would not be able to take the exam because of lack of internet connectivity and computers. Last month, Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) suggested that the DU should give option of pen-paper examination to students. DU has also decided against holding exams for the second and fourth semester of UG courses. Students will be evaluated based on internal assessment and marks scored in the previous semester. Both the criteria have been given 50 percent weightage.