DU open book exam 2020: Delhi University postpones online OBE; schedule to be out later on www.du.ac.in

The Delhi University (DU) on Wednesday postponed the Open Book Exam (OBE) to August, the university informed via a notification on its official website: www.du.ac.in. The varsity said that a later date for holding of exams will be released on the official website. The move came even as the Delhi High Court is hearing petitions regarding holding of open book exams and postponement of papers. DU had earlier in the day, informed the high court that it wants to postpone the online OBE by a month even as advocates representing students highlighted that repeated postponements cause mental trauma to students. The matter, being heard by a single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh took note of the objections to Delhi University’s stance and noted that a postponement of exams could especially be problematic for final year students who are awaiting results to apply for jobs, competitive exams and higher education abroad. The court also noted that earlier Dean of the Delhi Univeristy had assured the court that they were fully prepared to conduct open book exams online, and had even said that mock tests would be conducted to train students in taking exams the new way. Bar and Bench quoted advocate Manik Dogra, appearing for one of the students as saying that postponement of exams would hamper the career of those who wish to pursue higher education abroad. “Exam results will only come in November-December now. This is most unfortunate,” Dogra said. “Students are suffering from mental trauma due to repeated postponement,” Causa Legal law firm appearing on behalf of students was quoted as saying.

The bench has forwarded the matter to a divisional bench for adjudication and all petitions in this regard will be heard on Thursday,  Live Law reported.

As per a report by The Indian Express, DU Open Book Exams 2020 may now be conducted after 15 August. The DU OBE mode for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes was originally slated to start from 10 July. Although DU did not mention the reason for postponing the exams, The Indian Express quotes sources to report that the university is also looking at extending its admission window to accommodate students appearing for engineering and medical entrance examinations this year. JEE (Main) is scheduled to be held from 1 to 6 September, while JEE (Advanced) will be conducted on 27 September. The NEET (UG) 2020 is scheduled to be conducted on 13 September. The report says that new academic session of Delhi University for first year students is likely to commence in November. The Delhi University’s final year exams and admission calendar were discussed at a meeting convened by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The minister tweeted that MHRD is committed to students’ health and quality education.

Held a meeting with officials of @HRDMinistry and Delhi University today to discuss a synchronized calendar for DU admissions & #CBSE board examination results etc.
I would like to assure everyone that we at MHRD are committed to students' health and quality education. pic.twitter.com/wRfDezYFHp

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 7, 2020

The Print reported that senior officials of the university said during the meeting the ministry asked for a detailed report on the challenges in holding the OBE.