AHMEDABAD: After taking online exams in the second half of 2020 and early 2021, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) had conducted in-person exams in June 2021. With the Covid situation seemingly quelled in the state, GTU had announced in-person exams for January 2022 as well.
However, the recent explosion in cases with concerns about the Omicron variant of the virus, the varsity was forced to call off the in-person exam.
GTU, the state's largest technical university, has around 600 colleges affiliated with it, with 5.5 lakh students. It had emerged as the pioneer of online examinations in 2020, becoming the first university in the state to conduct such examinations due to the Covid situation.
GTU vice chancellor Navin Sheth said, "We have postponed the exams because we had prepared for in-person exams and cannot simply switch to online exams at a moment's notice."
"To hold online exams, we have to get students to register the devices by which they intend to take the exams. We use advanced proctoring tools for our online exams, and even caught students who had engaged in unfair exam practices in our online tests," Sheth added. In the Summer 2020 semester exams, GTU caught some 20 students for exam malpractices using their online proctoring tools. They were punished with being barred from exams for one year.
"Over the next few days, after assessing the Covid situation, we will take a decision on whether to take online or in-person exams. If the Covid situation remains bad, we will discuss online exams with our deans," Sheth said.
On Monday, members of the National Students Union of India had approached GTU authorities with a memorandum demanding that the in-person exams be called off due to the Covid situation. They has said that student as cases increase, students should be able to go home and not have to stay in hostels because of the exams.
