The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) recently announced that it will be conducting multiple choice questions (MCQ)-based online exams for first- to final-year students this year. The decision was taken in a special Board of Examinations (BoE) meeting, reported the Indian Express.
The final-year students studying in SPPU-affiliated colleges will have to take descriptive exams wherein they will be given two choices.
As per a report by TOI, these students will either have to type the answers on the device or upload copies of the written answer sheets. The exam will have four questions of five marks each. Students will have to write 30-word answers for each question.
As per the Indian Express report, exams for first-year students are expected to begin from 30 March and those for second and third-year degree students from 20 March.
The first and second-year students will take 50-mark MCQ-based online exams, an hour for each subject.
The final-year students will write a 50-mark MCQ paper, and take a 20-mark descriptive, long-answer format exam. "The total exam duration will be 1.5 hours. The final-year students are already being assessed internally for 30 marks. As far as the online exam for 70 marks of MCQ and the long-form answer goes, securing individual pass marks would be required in both.
There were demands on social media and otherwise to conduct the exams online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.
Regular exams for SPPU students were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
