DU stops exam for undergraduates midway over shift allotment ‘error’

Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) on Saturday morning cancelled the examination for the firstyear BA and Bcom programmes while the students were taking them and asked them to handover their answer sheets.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta said due to an “error”, all students were assigned the morning shift due to which centre strength was under strain and the exam had to be cancelled.

“We have a high student strength so the examination takes place in two shifts. By mistake, all students were allocated the morning shift. We will inquire if it was a human or a system error due to which the wrong time was printed on admit cards,” said Gupta.

A notice was soon put outside the gates of the centres which said, “This is to notify that exam schedule for March 4, both morning and evening sessions, for students of SOL have been cancelled...”. The notice was issued by joint registrar (examinations) and also mentioned that the next date of examinations will be announced later.

Saturday was the first day of examinations for the two programmes. The remaining date sheet remains unchanged, said a notification issued by the university.

Suman, a first-year BA student said, “I reached the centre on time. After filling in the candidate details, I was going to fill the answer sheet when an official walked in and told us it was cancelled.”

Members of the student organisation, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), along with students of SOL staged a protest outside the SOL building. The students later organised a rally at the Arts Faculty and submitted a memorandum to the DU vice-chancellor. “The cancellation of the exam on the day of the exam exposes the incompetence and apathy of the SOL administration,” said Bhim, a KYS member.