IIT-Bhubaneswar students oppose online test amid COVID-19 situation

Students  of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, have opposed appearing the final semester examinations online. 
IIT Bhubaneswar. (Photo| Facebook/ IIT Bhubaneswar)
IIT Bhubaneswar. (Photo| Facebook/ IIT Bhubaneswar)

BHUBANESWAR: Students  of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, have opposed appearing the final semester examinations online. Not every student has adequate logistics at homes to appear the test online, they reasoned.

The students started a campaign 'Save IIT BBS' on micro-blogging site Twitter to protest the newly-introduced examination system. They said a mock test was conducted online on May 9 and it was not successful.

"We faced many hassles as the institute asked us to appear for the mock test through a laptop or desktop having webcam with Windows operating system and by installing another software," said a BTech final year student, requesting anonymity.

The BTech final year students even conducted a survey on the mock test and 65.4 per cent of them said they could not arrange the logistics required for the examination. Only 29.2 per cent students could appear for the examination using their laptops.

They pointed out that IIT-Kharagpur decided to evaluate students’ performance on the basis of their grades in the mid-semester examination and assignments due to their inability to reach the campus to take the final semester test because of lockdown.

They further said that if examinations are held on the campus in the last week of July, they may face the risk of losing their jobs since companies which have hired them may reinforce their manpower after the lockdown relaxes.  

The students demanded that the institute should carry out an assignment based evaluation considering the difficulties they face due to the coronavirus pandemic. IIT-Bhubaneswar had recently held its Senate meeting in which it decided to conduct two alternative examinations - an online test from June 24 and students who do not have the required logistics are allowed to return to the campus and appear for the test in the last week of July.

IIT officials said the decision was taken to maintain the sanctity of examinations. "There is no risk of students losing their jobs as the companies will ask them to report during the first week of August and by then the results would also be published," said a senior IIT official.

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