No online exams after Puja under Gauhati University – Times of India

Even as university officials said the sanctity of the exams is ‘doubtful’ through the online mode, sources in the university said before the Durga Puja festivity begins, it is going to be the last open book examination to be conducted by the state university.

While normalcy is returning to the campuses, two major exams, NEET and the Assam Public Service Commission-combined competitive exam (CCE), were conducted under supervision of the authorities through the pen-and-paper mode earlier this month. GU officials, however, said that fearing protests from the students, they decided to go with the online mode again, probably for the last time, unless another wave of the pandemic hits the state.

“When we make an attempt to go back to the offline mode of exams, students protest. They want online exams. But after Durga Puja, there will be no online exams under GU,” GU controller of examinations, DJ Choudhury, told TOI.

The upcoming fourth semester examination is going to end before the Durga Puja vacation in GU. A notification issued by GU on Tuesday stated that the students will have to mail the PDF copy of their answer scripts after the conclusion of the examination of every paper within a stipulated time. “At the end of the entire schedule of the examination, students will have to submit all the original hard copies of answer scripts of every subject/paper to the college authority within the scheduled time for submission in a single packet clearly mentioning the roll numbers, subject, paper title, paper code and semester on the outer side of the envelope,” read the notification.

Detailed instructions to the college authorities regarding the evaluation of answer scripts will be notified soon. “The college authority will arrange for receiving the answer scripts of the students on the scheduled dates of 9th and 10th October (Sunday), 2021,” the notification added.

Sources in the state education department said that being autonomous institutions, the universities have the liberty to decide on the mode of examination as Covid-19 has significantly come under control. In fact, the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is going to conduct the Higher Secondary Final Special Examination- 2021 from October 1. Students, who were dissatisfied with the statistical formula-based evaluation of the board examinees, will appear for the test.

The readiness of AHSEC to conduct the examination through the offline mode is indicative of the state government’s go ahead to in-person exams following Covid protocols. The Class X special exams will also be held simultaneously.

“The special exam will be conducted in the offline mode as it is not possible to ensure the sanctity of such serious exams through the online mode. Dissatisfied board examinees are also keen to appear through offline mode only,” said AHSEC controller of examination, Pankaj Barthakur.