Political science students in pickle as DU administration announces OBEs

New Delhi: University of Delhi political science students have written to the administration regarding online book exams for the upcoming internal assessment.

Speaking to Millennium Post, Mudita, a post graduate political science student from Indraprastha College of Women said the university did not release any official notification or date sheet.

"Even today we are getting information about the OBE in bits and pieces about the paper. In the last semester, as well, in February, exams were conducted in open books exams format only. We already have two open book examinations in one semester," she said.

The students have said that the notification was released a couple of days back.

"In the second pandemic students are still not able to attend classes. Managing the syllabus is a huge problem," Mudita added.

Meanwhile, Krankari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor regarding "gross violation" of DU guidelines in the internal assessment being conducted by the Political Science department.

"The decision is not just in violation of DU guidelines, but also the Political Science department is the only department which is going ahead with internal assessment in OBE mode," it said.

In the memorandum sent to the DU Vice-Chancellor, KYS has demanded that the decision to conduct the internal assessment in OBE mode by Political Science should be withdrawn, especially since the decision violates the university's standing guidelines, and internal assessment should be conducted in Assignment Based Evaluation (ABE) format.

"We just have one request that the administration and our professors listen to our requests, because it is a real issue for students belonging to marginalised society," Mudita added.

Moreover, it should be noted that the decision of the Political Science department to conduct internal assessment in OBE mode comes amid a national health crisis.

The healthcare situation in the country at present is alarming, as Covid-19 cases were on a steady rise till very recently.

With lakhs of infections and thousands of daily deaths due to the pandemic and healthcare crisis, a considerable number of students are struggling under the present situation as they are ill themselves or taking care of affected family members.

This is coupled with a complete lockdown in several states, which has led to the loss of income for countless families.