IIEST will conduct its end-semester exams, scheduled for January, on digital platforms, an official of the Shibpur institute said.

The decision follows an assessment by the institute that most students managed to write last month’s mid-semester exams in the digital mode overcoming all constraints, the official said.

The institute had feared that around 15 per cent of the 3,000-odd examinees would not be able to write the mid-semester exams because of lack of access to devices like smartphones and laptops or because of poor connectivity.

But an assessment revealed that close to 95 per cent of the students wrote the test.

Parthasarathi Chakrabarti, the director of the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), said the participation was more than what the institute had witnessed when tests were held on the campus. “Participation by the maximum number of students in the mid-semester exams overcoming the digital constraints has encouraged us to decide to conduct end-semester exams on digital platforms,” Chakrabarti told Metro.

The concerns over lack of access to devices among a section of students and lack of invigilation during tests on digital platforms had at one point made the institute contemplate whether the exams could be held on the campus.

But as students opposed the proposal for on-campus tests amid the pandemic, the mid-semester exams had to be held on digital platforms.

According to a notice issued on December 31, the end-semester examinations for undergraduate students (BTech and BArch 3rd, 5th and 7th semester) will be held from January 11 till 16.

The exams will be held in online mode in accordance with the protocol followed at the time of mid-semester tests, says the notice.

A slew of conditions to ensure invigilation during semester exams on digital platforms will be in place.

“During the entire period of examination, the camera of your (students’) device (webcam or mobile camera) has to be kept on and audio to be kept off and you shall be proctored by the faculty members. Adoption of any unfair means shall be dealt with as per institute rules and practices,’’ read a notice issued by IIEST on Thursday.

What made the institute worry about digital constraints among students?

According to an IIEST official, a feedback from 1,830 students in August had revealed that as many as 15.5 per cent of them could not attend online classes in the last semester and 18.3 per cent faced problems because of ’’poor’’ Internet connectivity at home.

The responses from a group of 1,200 students had shown that 13.2 per cent of them could not download lectures from the institute’s website.

Another official said that to address the problems of digital constraints, the institute had bought students tabs and smartphones and waived some fees so students could spend the money to buy high-speed Net connections.

“The measures seem to have paid off in overcoming the digital divide. Students also took steps on their own to deal with the constraints,” he said.