Many institutes are opting for offline exams in the even semester, which will start in January, despite deferring plans to call students to the campus because of the fear of a renewed surge in Covid cases fuelled by Omicron.
Reason for the preference for in-person exams: it ensures foolproof and fair evaluation.
St Xavier’s College, which has not yet started in-person classes for most undergraduate students, will hold the offline exams in the even semester in a staggered way.
NIT Durgapur, which has pushed back recalling students to April and May, said the same.
St Xavier’s University, New Town, which is holding classes in a blended mode (a combination of offline and online classes), has decided to hold even semester exams in offline mode only.
St Xavier’s College had last week decided that in-person classes would be held for all semesters of the BEd and multimedia departments at the undergraduate level from January because fewer students enrol in these subjects than, say, BCom or English.
In-person classes of the outgoing postgraduate batches started on November 16.
“We will hold in-person exams at the end of the even semester as this is foolproof. Offline exams will help us understand better the learning gap a student might encounter since some of them could not attend online classes owing to unstable connectivity (at home) and plug the gaps through remedial classes,” said Father Dominic Savio, principal of St Xavier’s College.
The college, he said, will hold the exams over a longer duration, following a staggered schedule based on class and semester.
“We can hold the exams in the auditorium to maintain the physical distancing norm,” the principal said.
NIT, Durgapur, had decided to recall BTech second-year, third-year and fourth-year students and MTech first-year students in December and January.
But the institute later pushed back the arrival of the undergraduate second-year, four-year and postgraduate first-year students to April, February and May, respectively.
Until the students arrive, classes will continue to be held on digital platforms.
NIT director Anupam Basu said: “We will hold the exams offline after students arrive on the campus following the revised schedule. Offline exams ensure better and fair assessment. As part of the staggered model, once the students of BTech third and fourth-year are through with writing the papers in-person, those in the BTech second year and MTech first year will write the exams.”
At NIT Durgapur, only the third-year students will arrive in January.
An NIT official said doubts had been cast on the credibility of online exams because students write the papers from home without any invigilation.
A notice issued by St Xavier’s University, New Town, says: “End-semester examinations for all courses will be held in physical mode. Minimum attendance of 75% (85% for MBA) will be required to appear.”
At Ramakrishna Mission-run colleges, such as the ones in Rahara and Belur, the exams of the current semester (odd semester) will be held in-person in January and February.