The exam department of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) is all set to take a decision on its first semester exams, in a meeting scheduled for today, Sakal has reported.
Regular year exams for SPPU students were cancelled last year due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
With the exam season drawing near, they have been demanding that their exams be conducted online, citing COVID-19 scare. Several students have even taken to social media to press for their demand for online exam.
As per a report by The Indian Express, the SPPU administration is likely to consider students' demand, considering the immense efforts and the time required to conduct the exams offline for all students.
Recently, the Minister for Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant had also said universities can conduct exams online as well as offline as per the COVID-19-related situation in their respective areas.
As per the IE report, SPPU has given the following analysis over the debate of online vs offline exams:
The university, if it decides to hold the exam offline for first- to final-year students including [those sitting for] backlog papers, will require more than 72 days.
While if it conducts the exam online, it will require just 40 days.
The huge task of paper correction will also get easy if the exam is conducted online.
Universities have been directed not to force students to pay full fees, and a committee is looking into students' fee-related grievances, Samant had said.
"If a college is found violating government norms, it will face legal action."
Samant had also said that while colleges can reopen from 15 February, all hostels may not as some of them are being used as quarantine centres.
(With inputs from PTI)
