Students oppose Christ University Bangalore's decision to conduct exams
Students of Christ (deemed-to-be-university), Bangalore, have opposed its decision to conduct examinations amid coronavirus concerns. Earlier on Friday, the Karnataka government announced its decision to conduct final semester exams before the end of September. It, however, said that the intermediate semester students pursuing degree and post-graduation courses including engineering, and diploma courses for the academic year 2019-2020 will be promoted without examinations.
Students from Christ (deemed-to-be-university) are raising serious concerns and anomalies regarding the online examinations that are set to begin next week. However, Christ informed India TV Digital that it will go ahead with the examinations keeping a broader picture in mind. "As many as 94.8 percent of students have registered for online examinations. We have to look at a broader perspective. We will 100 percent go ahead with the exams," Christ PRO Rosh Joy told India TV Digital.
In an official communication released July 10, Christ (deemed-to-be-university) said it has been receiving representations and requests from students to cancel the examinations citing the order of Karnataka government's Department of Higher Education. "It is hereby clarified that the said order pertains to conduct of examinations in the state and private universities coming under the Department of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka. CHRIST (Deemed to be University) is guided by the UGC regulations and guidelines and as such the examinations scheduled from July 13 as per the decision of the university in accordance with the UGC guidelines will be conducted as per the schedule announced," the release undersigned by Christ registrar read.
STUDENTS' SAY
"According to the recent guidelines published by the Karnataka government, it states that the promotion will be based on comprehensive evaluation with 50:50 weightage to internal marks and the aggregate of previous semester marks if available. Christ University is not following these guidelines and continuing to hold exams," a student said.
"The examination is taking a toll on the mental health of the students. It is not right for the university to conduct exams amidst a global pandemic. Highlighting the fact that our session ended mid-March and we have been having online classes and internal submission from the month of May," another student raised concern.
"Our 4th-semester exams were supposed to be held in March but due to the lockdown, they were postponed to May, then to June and now they have been scheduled to start from the 13th of July. It has been 5 months and during these 5 months, we had to go through a lot of mandatory learning. We were made to do an online course for a month to substitute our summer internship and then in May, our college started with online classes for the academic year 2020-21. We also had our Continuous Internal Assessment-1 during this time, along with synchronous and asynchronous activities that left no time for us to be away from the screen. The examinations were postponed time and time again because first, the college got busy with admissions and later conducted exams for the graduating batch of 2020. For 5 long, taxing, emotionally, and mentally draining months, amidst a global pandemic that is affecting the mental health of everyone in some way or the other, we were made to study 7 new subjects for the 5th-semester and finish assignments for the same," a concerned student elaborated.
"Some of the students are still stuck in PGs, hostels, and apartments unable to go home and meet their parents, some don’t have their books with them and some students don't have resources to give the exam. How can one cope up with everything? Is this stress and anxiety not enough," she asked.
