No fear of Covid but app goof up gives them nightmare

Nagpur: Students of Nagpur University on Thursday lived some anxious moments though there was no typical atmosphere dreaded during exams, hunt for the centre, exam hall and pressure of studies.
The first-ever online exam of the university made the final year students more nervous than what the traditional pen and paper method would have. The reason was the ‘RTMNU Pariskha’ app which didn’t work as per expectations and left students thinking about their result till late in the evening.
Rupal Lamsonge, who wrote to the university, said she just couldn’t give up thinking if her marks would be deducted for repeated questions. “I wish to take up MSc from a good college. But I am afraid today’s glitch will affect my overall percentage,” said Rupal with her voice choking.
The student said she couldn’t hold back her tears after the app abruptly shut when the exam time was up. “I couldn’t login on time because of OTP delay,” she said.
Another final year student Samiskha Maske said, “ I don’t know if it was really an exam. Our study link was broken yet we had prepared well. Since lockdown there had been uncertainty about exams, which still remains.” Samiskha added that she was not sure if her answers were submitted.
Apoorva Randale too said it has become like a cat-and-mouse game. “Exams are on, then off, then on. Then timetable was announced and postponed. Now, again there is no surety,” she said.
All three students agreed that the only good thing to happen during the day was that they didn’t fear contracting Covid infection during exam hours.
Nayan Joshi said he appeared for the exam just like doing any other routine work at home. “Normally, university exams take a lot of efforts. It was a good move to hold it online but for the goof up which ruined everyone’s experience,” he said.
Samina Amin was stressed out because of the repetitive questions. “My classmates had problems submitting the answers. In FAQs, it was mentioned that we would be proctored. But there was no virtual watch on examinees. I have appeared in several other online exams. Most of them are held on laptops and those apps can control mic, sense motion and vision so that examinees don’t indulge in unfair practices,” she said.