Open book test unfeasible

With the coronavirus-induced lockdown stretching to over two months and crowded spaces continuing to be potentially hazardous for an indeterminate period, the education sector is faced with some unique challenges as the academic calendar zooms past. Even as both educationists and students have been trying to make good use of the time at home by logging in to online classes, tackling the technology hurdle, the efforts have not borne the desired results. The main cause for this a bigger hurdle: a majority of the students have been unable to attend the online classes for lack of necessary tools. If some do not have a laptop, computer or smartphone, others feel handicapped in the absence of strong bandwidth or Internet, specially in the rural hinterland or J&K. Then, not everybody is lucky enough to enjoy a study-conducive atmosphere at home, with the lockdown bringing untold misery.

Oblivious to this ground reality, Delhi University, which has students enrolled with it from all over the country, has proposed to hold open book exams from home in July. It is not surprising that nearly 90 per cent of the over 50,000 students responding to a survey conducted by the Delhi University Teachers Association have rejected the DU plan. For, caught unawares by the sudden lockdown, many of them do not even have the textbooks and reference material with them.

Clearly, it is not yet time to introduce the open book examination system, despite the many pros of the concept that aims to test the examinee’s understanding of the subject, rather than just the recalling of lessons or a memory test. The books that are available to the student for reference only support him in his ability to formulate, analyse or evaluate a given topic. Unless he has prepared well for the exam, referring to the books under a time constraint is bound to be unproductive. But, at this juncture, the educationists will need to think of some other imaginative modes of testing the students, in a manner that gives them all equal opportunities and exposes them to the least risk of contracting Covid-19.