Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): One of the Aligarh Muslim University’s professors, Aftab Alam, has been sent a notice to warn him against getting vocal about his thoughts on conducting open book online examinations in the university. Mr. Alam had had shared his reviews over the different method of holding examinations this year saying that the resort denies allotment of equal opportunity amongst the students.
Citing a letter to the political science department professor, AMU Registrar Abdul Hamid said that Mr. Alam’s email contained the potential to provoke students and instigate them to boycott the final year examinations, especially during times when the National Disaster Management Act is in full function due to Covid-19 pandemic. He said that it can lead to worrisome situations for conducting the university examinations and other academic activities.
Mr. Hamid also stated that the professor has indirectly threatened the university administration that if they go forward with the online open book examinations, there is chance of some students committing suicide. He mentioned the incident of suicide by a young female student in Kerala over her inability to get access to the internet.
The registrar gave a strict warning to Alam saying, “If any problems occur in future, you will be held responsible for the same.”
Alam, who is also a member of an Executive Council, in his letter to the VC, had said that “the online open book examination process requires students to have Internet access, computers/laptops or the latest smartphones, books and quality study material wherever they are currently locked down.”
“We have failed to recognise the fact that most of our students left for their homes in an extraordinary situation and they might not have even their books and their study materials with them.”
He further said that a number of students will feel handicapped as they do not own the latest smartphones and laptops
He said that there are also numerous students who are handicapped simply because they neither have the latest smartphones and laptops nor a stable 4G internet connection for their online exams or studies. As such, the students may face immense hardships for scanning and uploading their answers on plain sheets, based on the quality of smartphone, Internet connectivity and load on the university server.
The possibility of the server being down and Internet speed getting too slow in the last minute cannot be eliminated as this may rob time from many students for uploading their answers, he stated
The professor requested the AMU administration to withdraw their decision of online open-book examination and assign a Working Group of experts to explore other options as online open book examinations are not a practical solution at all.
