
The Delhi High Court granted permission to the Delhi University Administration to conduct an online Open Book Examination (OBE) for final year courses.
The decision comes after a hearing a petition filed by students against the University’s decision to conduct examinations stating concerns over technical issues, lack of study materials, and inaccessibility of the internet in various parts of the country.
However, the DU administration on Wednesday had said in the Delhi High Court that the purpose of conducting an online open-book examination has been done keeping in mind the guidelines of social distancing during the time of the COVID-19 epidemic. The DU administration said that it is extremely difficult to observe social distancing between students in a hall by conducting a general examination.
The DU administration has informed the court that it will conduct the examination only under the guidelines of the UGC. The court has upheld the University’s decision to conduct online OBE from August 10.
During the hearing, DU’s lawyer said that students would not need extremely high technology to join OBEs. He said that it would be sufficient to have an email to appear in the exam. Along with this, he said that for students who do not want to appear in this examination or cannot appear in the examination, a general examination will be held in September.
Those students can then appear in that exam. The lawyer also told the court that the results of the examination will also be announced soon so that the students do not have to face trouble for further studies.
Advocate Shivankar Sharma, appearing on behalf of the intervenor, argued that OBE has been selected on no basis and is not a test medium. He claimed that the decision has been taken arbitrarily and without any thought, so instructions should be given to cancel the notification of OBE.
The bench reserved its decision on this petition after hearing the arguments of DU, UGC, petitioners, and interveners.
Earlier, many students have complained about the various issues faced by them during the mock test conducted last month. They had taken to social media and other platforms to raise their concerns about the impracticality of conducting an exam during a pandemic situation.