Two phases of Nagpur University summer exam see paper leak, blank answer sheets

NAGPUR: Two phases of Nagpur University (NU) examinations, mostly involving final-year undergraduate courses, are nearing completion. The first phase, having 128 exams, will be completed by June 30. The second phase with 150 postgraduate exams had the last paper on Monday. The third phase started on June 23 for pre-final year students and will go on in July.
The processing of results is underway and some results are expected in a week’s time, exam section officials said. They added that the BSc maths exam scheduled for June 24 was cancelled as the question paper was leaked, and that the exam would now be held on July 6.
Top exam officials said about 70 cases of unfair practices had been reported and due action was taken. They added that an exam centre official had leaked the BSc paper.
Teachers said the performance in MCQ-based offline exams has been abysmal as many papers have been left blank. “Students are aware that the papers will be checked by their own college. No college will want to fail or give low marks to their own students. As they just have to put a tick before the correct answer, many students have left the answer sheets blank,” said some teachers.
The teachers added that students were completely out of practice of exams for the last two years, and they were not prepared for the in-person exam. “It is a fact that teachers are awarding marks by answering the questions. There is no way for anyone to find out if the student put a tick or a teacher,” they said.
Students too slammed the university over the MCQ pattern exam. A student from management and commerce faculty said the entire exercise was an eyewash. “If this was what the university wanted to do to assess our competency then online was far better and also ensured greater transparency. We just ended up wasting our time and resources,” a student said.
The student added that some students relied on teachers to appear for the exam on their behalf. “Marks are also being awarded freely. Out of 50, we just had to answer 40. So even if 10 questions are wrong but attempted, they will get full marks,” the student said.
Several students and youth wings had strongly opposed the offline exam mode and demanded online exams in March and April. After much dilly-dallying, NU decided to hold exams offline but in MCQ pattern.