The Bombay High Court (HC) has directed the Vice-Chancellor of Maharashtra University (MU) to hear out the pleas regarding postponement of examination. The Mumbai University (MU) has decided to conduct the online examination of final year students from October 1, 2020. The online examination of the final year of BA, BCom, BSc and BA in Mass Media courses will start from the next month. The Bombay High Court (HC) has refused to pass orders regarding the postponement of the final year examination. Instead, the Bombay High Court (HC) has directed the petitioners to the Vice-chancellor of Mumbai University (MU). The Bombay High Court (HC) has refused to pass orders regarding the postponement of the final year examination. Instead, the Bombay High Court (HC) has directed the petitioners to the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University (MU). Now, the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University (MU) is expected to hold a meeting and discuss the postponement of the final year examination. The matter is expected to solve before the commencement of the final year examination.
What do petitioners demand?
As per the petitions, Mumbai University (MU) has failed to provide ‘one month’ of advance notice for the commencement of the examination. The petitioners are Sachin Manwadkar and Dilip Randive. Sachin Manwadkar is pursuing his BA and Dilip Randive is enrolled for the 3-year course in LLB. The petitioners have sought the postponement of the examination. The petition has also demanded to grant one month to the students to prepare for the examination.
The petitioners used a reference of the circular of June 2019 where the Mumbai University (MU) had been asked to declare the examination one month before the date of commencement. The advocate Sharon Patole said that students need at least one month to prepare for the examination. The professors also need some time to prepare the set of questions. This year the mode of examination and format has changed.
However, the advocate, Rui Rodrigues, who represented Mumbai University (MU), said that the circular would be applicable for the physical mode of examination. The circular has been provided for the first year and the second year of degree courses and is not applicable for the students of the final year. The mode of examination is online due to the pandemic. The regular exams for the final year will be starting from October 1, 2020.
What are the issues?
The online examination for the students carrying backlogs had begun from September 25, 2020. Some colleges delayed the examination due to the technical glitches. The examination will now take on Friday. Some colleges need more time to prepare the students and the teachers with the new model of the examination. The Principal of R A Poddar College, Matunga, Sobhana Vasudev said that the teachers and students would require more time to get adopted to this new pattern.
The University of Mumbai has released a circular with the notice that all the colleges must follow the multiple-choice questions (MCQ) pattern in the online mode of examination. Mumbai University (MU) has notified that all the examinations are ought to be concluded by October 31, 2020. The colleges must declare the results by the first week of November. The colleges have provided them with sample question papers. The colleges are conducting mock tests to help out the students. The students need to focus and prepare well for the examination.
Guidelines
- Every student will get 60 minutes along with the multiple-choice question (MCQ) pattern. Each student will have a different set of question papers. The distribution and the order of the questions will be replaced in the question paper of every student.
- There will be around 25 to 40 sets of multiple-choice questions (MCQ) in each subject. The theory paper of the final year students will be starting from October 1, 2020, and continue till October 17, 2020.
- All the colleges must prepare the set of question papers that will be based on the syllabus being taught before the pandemic. The guidelines tell that the questions should be based on the subject materials that have been taught until March 13, 2020.
- The colleges are required to upload the marks of the subjects in 2 days after the completion of the examination of the respective subject.
- The colleges are expected to carry out the viva examinations via zoom app Google meet and Skype. The colleges can conduct oral examinations via telephone.
- The students may get 20 minutes extra to finish up the theory paper.
This year, most of the universities have opted for an online model of examination to help the students. The students have faced many technical glitches and some students and teachers may require time to cope up with the new model of examination pattern. The University of Mumbai has been expected to hear the petition and resolve the matter before the commencement of the examination.
