Mita Mukherjee

The West Bengal government on Friday left it to the universities of the state to take the call on mode of conducting their examinations – online or offline –according to their suitability.

In an advisory to vice-chancellors of all universities the state higher education department on Friday said several queries have been received regarding the mode of conducting the ensuing semester examinations.

“Considering the present situation, the Competent authorities/ bodies of the Universities may take suitable decision regarding mode of conduct of University Examinations, on the basis of extant rules and regulations of the concerned Universities. Suitable necessary advice to all Higher Educational Institutions under your control may be issued,” the advisory issued to the vice-chancellors said.

The advisory has come at a time when a large number of students across universities are demanding online exams.

The semester end examinations in most universities in the state are due in May-June.

After remaining shut for nearly two years, universities and colleges in Bengal had resumed physical classes on February 3, 2022. The universities again switched to online classes from May 2 following an order from the state government asking the institutions to suspend all physical classes because of the soaring temperatures. Many colleges and universities are now gradually returning to the offline classes after the temperature cooled following Norwesters.

Students in favour of online exams are of the opinion that their classes were held through online mode throughout the year and therefore the examinations too should be conducted over digital platforms.

According to Shuvajit Sarkar, a student of Presidency University, in some departments, the students were taught only through the online mode in the last semester. In some cases, classes were held in both online and offline mode.

“The authorities should be careful before finalizing its decision on the mode of conduct of the exams. If students were  taught only through the online mode, the exams should also be held on the same platform,” according to the student.

A section of students, however, said they were ready to write the tests in offline mode even if their classes were held only through online mode.

Most teachers too want the ensuing exams to be held offline as they feel exams held over digital platforms from home raises questions about the evaluation system and does not hold merit.

Mahua Das, vice-chancellor of West Bengal State University, Barasat said the university would want to hold offline exams but the final decision will be taken after discussing the matter with students, teachers and senior officials of the university.

Also read: West Bengal: Research must for recruitment of college principals