DU to shift to physical exams from May, online open book format to continue till then

DU had shifted to an OBE format during the pandemic. All examinations since 2020 have been held in this format, for which the university had initially faced a lot of flak.

Principals had told The Indian Express Thursday that they had received communication, especially from first-year students, expressing apprehension over returning to campus, when it re-opens on February 17, as their exams will begin shortly after that and it would take them time to settle.

A meeting of the Working Group of Examinations was held Friday evening to decide on the matter. In a notification thereafter, Dean Examinations D S Rawat said, “It is hereby informed to all concerned that University of Delhi on the basis of recommendations of the Working Group for Examinations has decided that all the examinations which shall be conducted during the month of March and April 2022 (odd semester examinations VIIVVVI), shall be conducted in Open Book Examination (OBE) mode.”

“Further, all the examinations which shall be conducted during the month of May 2022 and onwards (even semester examinations II/TV/VIVII) shall be conducted in physical mode. The detailed guidelines in this regard shall be issued shortly,” he said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rawat said the decision was unanimous keeping in mind the situation. “There is only about three weeks left right now because from March 10, classes for the first semester will be suspended due to the examinations. First-year students have not studied offline, so it would have been too much pressure for them to appear for offline exams. So, we decided to go with online exams instead,” he said.

Rawat said the format of the OBE and the detailed guidelines will remain the same as it had been for the previous exams.