Indore: Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV), on Monday, postponed all the examinations scheduled in the offline mode in the months of December and January following a protest by NSUI activists who were demanding a change in the mode of examinations.
Following instructions by the department of higher education (DHE), DAVV had announced the winter season examinations in the offline mode. It had even issued timetables for third semester examinations of the post-graduate courses from December 22. The BBA third and fifth semester examinations were also scheduled from December 29.
On Wednesday, activists of the NSUI, led by Vikas Nandwana, Yash Yadav and Amit Thakur, staged a demonstration on the RNT Marg campus of the DAVV pressing for their demand of a change in the mode of the examinations.
Yash said that classes were conducted online, so the examinations should also be held in the online mode. They staged a sit-in outside the V-C’s chamber so as not to let officials inside until the mode of the examinations was changed.
Rector Ashok Sharma, registrar Anil Sharma, examination controller Asheesh Tiwari and dean (students’ welfare) LK Tripathi held a meeting and informed the students the authority to decide on mode of exams lies with the DHE.
The “DHE has already instructed us to hold examinations in the offline mode, so we can’t change the mode of examinations from offline to online,” the rector told the protesting NSUI activists, but they were not ready to buy any argument.
For nearly three hours, the protest continued. At 4 pm, the university announced suspension of all examinations scheduled for the months of December and January. In a notification issued on Wednesday evening, DAVV said that the examinations had been suspended for unforeseen reasons.
NSUI activists sans masks, but show fear of Covid-19
NSUI activists protesting against conduct of examinations in offline mode said the Covid-19 threat was still there, so exams should be held in online mode
The activists, who were giving this argument, were, themselves, not wearing masks and did not even maintain social distancing during the protest staged
We’ll seek guidelines from the DHE in terms of the mode of examinations. Although we already have instructions for holding examinations from the DHE in the offline mode, some students submitted a memorandum for a change of examinations. We’ve forwarded the memorandum to the DHE. Whatever directives are received from the DHE will be complied with.
Rector Ashok Sharma