After countrywide protests, Karachi students demand online exams

[MenInG]

After protests across the country, students from a private university in Karachi have taken to the streets to protest against in-person examinations.

The students, like others across the country, are saying that if their varsity administration held classes online then it should also conduct the exam in the same format.

Speaking to Geo News, the students, who belong to Bahria University, said that they had asked the university to take on-campus classes; however, it had refused to do so.

"Our exams have already been delayed, and now we demand that the university [expedite the matter] and conduct online exams."

The exams are due to begin in February.

The students vowed to continue their protest till their demands are met.

Speaking on why they think the university is conducting the exams in-person and not online, students claimed that their institute was only doing so in order to charge fees from the students.

Meanwhile, the university said that it was obliged to follow the Islamabad campus and that they could not make a decision unilaterally.

Amid the protest, talks took place between the students and the varsity administration, after which the protesters got split into two groups. One group left, while the other continued the protest saying that it did not "trust the management".

Due to the protest, the road going from Millennium Mall to Dalmia was blocked to all kinds of traffic.

In response to the situation, police, who already began arriving at the scene, called for additional deployment of forces.

Later in the evening, the remaining protesters also dispersed owing to police clearing a path for the Pakistan and South African cricket players to pass through as they emerge from the National Stadium following the third day's close in the first Test match between the two sides.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/332233-after-countrywide-protests-karachi-students-demand-online-exams

 

[rockyboy2018]

Can't they sort it out in a civilized way? Even for a highly developed country like Germany, exams are done on campus so that no hanky panky stuff for cheating is done. And, they arrange seatings based on the social distance and wearing a medical mask. This way exam supervision is done in an honest way and everyone gets a fair chance. It is just for a couple of hours. Corruption is everywhere in Pakistan it seems. It is rooted in a mindset. Just prepare for the exam- go to the exam room and get over it. Why create a drama out of nothing?

 

[Bigboii]

Can't they sort it out in a civilized way? Even for a highly developed country like Germany, exams are done on campus so that no hanky panky stuff for cheating is done. And, they arrange seatings based on the social distance and wearing a medical mask. This way exam supervision is done in an honest way and everyone gets a fair chance. It is just for a couple of hours. Corruption is everywhere in Pakistan it seems. It is rooted in a mindset. Just prepare for the exam- go to the exam room and get over it. Why create a drama out of nothing?

Better option give than option if you have camera, high speed internet, audio, test stopping when you get out of camera or look too further down
Than you can take it online (happening everywhere around the world I don't think people are chaeting now maybe in the beginning of the pandemic but now the testing standards are pretty good)

For economically disadvantaged people give than an option for on campus testing

Problem solved!

 

[Thomaskutty]

Online exams? Lol at the audacity of these students.

 

[Belawal2014]

Online exams? Lol at the audacity of these students.

The audacity of these students to keep themselves and their loved ones safe...

 

[rockyboy2018]

Better option give than option if you have camera, high speed internet, audio, test stopping when you get out of camera or look too further down
Than you can take it online (happening everywhere around the world I don't think people are chaeting now maybe in the beginning of the pandemic but now the testing standards are pretty good)

For economically disadvantaged people give than an option for on campus testing

Problem solved!

Dude, you do not understand the logistics. The internet speed is **** poor in Pakistan. And there is an electricity breakdown issue every now and then. It can go anytime. A couple of weeks ago the whole country was a blackout. The university does not know what kind of backlash they are going to face if a student is unable to finish his exam due to the internet or electricity going haywire. More protests will be in order as Pakistani students do not know what to do with their free time. .

I mean, before the pandemic they used to write their exams on campus, then why not now for a couple of hours. I am sure they are freely traveling for having their protests then why not go to the university campus and write their exams.

It is not just about writing online exams - it is also about logistics and IT -systems put into place.
I am going to write an online exam the first time around for my German university. There will be certain questions that I need to do on a piece of paper, take a snapshot of, and upload it on Moodle. Only after that, I will be forward to the next block of questions. And, when it comes to organization, Germans are very organized and have provided us an opportunity to go through a separate course on "how to take an online exam" and what they expect from us. Exams are still 3 weeks away but still, they have provided enough resources and time to do a trial run.
In Pakistan, it takes ages to get some work done from an administrative point of view so orienting students on "how to take an online exam" may eat up into more of their time.
One more thing, the state policy in Germany due to the corona pandemic is that all exams will be free tries even if something bad happens on the student end like losing an internet connection or computer acting crazy, they will not lose any try. That is at maximum 3 tries to clear an exam. You have to clear it at all costs otherwise you will be deregistered from the course and cant pursue that course anywhere else in Germany.

 

[Itachi]

Classes were online when covid was highly spreading across different countries.

Now the situation isn't THAT severe. If every other aspect is coming back to normalcy, I don't see why exams can't.

Their logic doesn't make much sense to be honest.

 

[Varun]

Translation : Let us chill at home and cheat in the exams! *cough* Don't you know there is a pandemic on? We don't want to.... er fall ill or anything like that.

 

[Mamoon]

The audacity of these students to keep themselves and their loved ones safe...

They just want to cheat. The university should not fall for the act.

The students will do the “we want to keep ourselves safe” drama, but they are the same people who are going to public places and gatherings.

No one takes COVID protocols seriously in Pakistan these days. Life is going on as normal, the only difference now is that people are wearing masks.

If people can go to malls, dine outdoors, meet friends, have get togethers etc. these days, they can also take exams.

If these students continue to cry and try to con the universities with their nonsense, fail them all.

 

[Belawal2014]

They just want to cheat. The university should not fall for the act.

The students will do the “we want to keep ourselves safe” drama, but they are the same people who are going to public places and gatherings.

No one takes COVID protocols seriously in Pakistan these days. Life is going on as normal, the only difference now is that people are wearing masks.

If people can go to malls, dine outdoors, meet friends, have get togethers etc. these days, they can also take exams.

If these students continue to cry and try to con the universities with their nonsense, fail them all.

You can't just assume that all students want to cheat. There are some that genuinely do not want to bring the virus home to their elderly relatives. It would be an injustice to such students.

Also, if classes have switched to online sessions, then I don't see why assessments be any different? An argument can be made that an online learning environment warrants a similar online assessment.

Honestly, the onus is on the university and professors to mitigate cheating online by various methods instead of being lazy and just risking the spread of the virus.(switch assignments for time limited exams, using proctoring software if need be, curve down if need be, etc etc.). If professors are really smart about it, they can set exams in a way to weed out cheaters.

I agree that perhaps people are not taking COVID-19 as seriously as they should in Pakistan, but that should not be a reason for institutions to not do their part in mitigating the spread of the virus.