Change in exam centre puts IGNOU students in a fix

Vikas Sharma

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 27

Hundreds of students pursuing undergraduate /postgraduate/diploma/certificate programmes from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Jammu Regional Centre through distance mode are in a fix. In a surprise move, the examination centre for the annual term end examination (TEE) starting December first week has been set up at Samba district just a few days ahead of the examination.

The aggrieved students have blamed the IGNOU authorities for setting up examination centre in another district. “Those at the helm of affairs at the head office in New Delhi have no idea of the topography of the Union Territory. The examination centre could have been set up on the outskirts of Jammu city, but it has now been set up 41-km away from Jammu,” said Kamini, an IGNOU student.

“My daughter is five-month-old and it is tough for me to appear for the examination in Samba district. There are not many preparatory leaves too. Another problem is that the examination will be conducted in the morning session. For covering 41 km from Jammu we have to start from home at 8 am to reach on time,” another IGNOU student Komal said.

KK Bhat, Regional Director, IGNOU, Jammu Regional Centre, told The Tribune it was not possible to change the examination centre for the students. “We have clear-cut instructions from the IGNOU head office, New Delhi, that not even a single learner’s examination centre will be changed this time. Earlier, when the examination centre was set up at a distant place, it was again reset by the regional centre for the convenience of the students. But this time, the authority to change the centre is not with the regional centre, Bhat said.

“In 2018 when the examination centre was changed for students after their request, a few of them did not even went to the changed centre and rather appeared at other examination centre which later created a lot of confusion during evaluation of their answer sheets. The IGNOU authorities had taken this indiscipline seriously. In order to maintain discipline at all centres, the authorities have taken this tough stance,” the IGNOU Regional Director maintained.