Kashmir medical exam sets social media on fire

An open book assessment of MBBS students in Kashmir set social media on fire after a picture of the exam went viral and some users misunderstood it as mass copying. The assessment was conducted for the first time by department of community medicine, Govt. Medical College (GMC) Srinagar on Wednesday to check the analytic skills of students.

SRINAGAR: An open book assessment of MBBS students in Kashmir set social media on fire after a picture of the exam went viral and some users misunderstood it as mass copying.

The assessment was conducted for the first time by the department of community medicine, Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar on Wednesday to check the analytic skills of students rather than testing their memory strength.

However, soon the pictures of the medical students wearing white coats immersed in books while going through the assessment went viral with many users misconstruing it as mass copying.

“Someone had forwarded pictures of GMC Srinagar examination centre. Please have a look upon it. Is it really Srinagar or GMC Bihar?” wrote one astonished Facebook user.

The reactions on social media prompted officials to clear the air and issue quick rebuttals.

Head of the community medical department, Dr Muhammad Salim Khan said that the exam was conducted to give students an idea of new forms of assessments in vogue outside the state.

He said that open book system tests the ‘higher order thinking skills’ (HOTS) of the examinees instead of their memory strength

“Our attempt was appreciated by many but some misconstrued it as masscopying and they are spreading the misconception to malign the Kashmir medicos . Let them understand the concept first then react,” he said on Facebook.

IMAGES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IMMERSED IN THEIR BOOKS WHILE GIVING TEST WENT VIRAL WITH MANY MISTAKING IT FOR MASS COPYING