Scores of students have gathered to protest against the administration of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, over the government’s decision to conduct offline exams, scheduled for March 28. Meanwhile, several students have taken to the microblogging site Twitter to push for the admiration for reversing his decision. In addition, a petition has also been signed by more than 1,287 students raising the same question.
Students claim that for the past two years due to COVID lockdowns and restrictions, while not receiving physical classes and all their exams, including practical sessions, took place online, they are now forced to take exams offline. According to media reports, in order to “acclimatize students to the practice of writing”, the institute is going to conduct a pilot test to be conducted on Thursday, March 24.
A few students took to Twitter and said:
we are LITERALLY BEgging NO ONE TO LISTEN TO OUR grievances. i am a first year female student of ST Xaviers College and our exams start on the 28th, ACTION MUST BE TAKEN ASAP!!— lio mani (@alwayzbummed) March 22, 2022
Another user said:
Take exams online Jai hind, St.xaviers, mithibai, NM and all other autonomous colleges, it is about equality and the future of students and not your university reputation! Please help and support us, students, sir!!#amittackeraywithus@AmitThackeray24— SJB (@SJB30294870) March 18, 2022
said another student,
The trend is changing or needs to be changed as schools like St Xaviers and Holy Cross do not guarantee a good English speaking student nor do they teach them to achieve a pass rate in good competitive exams. They are directly connected to the United Nations, destroying Hindu culture – Mukesh kumar (@mukeshkrsri1) March 11, 2022
In an effort to file their protest, previous students also collected 1,287 signatures in their appeal against the decision. Unfortunately, this did not change the decision of admiration. After the petition was filed, director Rajendra Shinde told the students that the students of the outposts will be housed in “various locations, including the university hostels” to help them conduct offline exams.
In a lengthy message addressed to students at St Xavier’s College, Principal Shinde justified his decision. He also added that, if necessary, students will be able to participate in “additional exams in October 2022,” according to media reports.
Calling this decision “inhumane” and “unfair”, students claimed they wanted to be treated equally with other students at the University of Mumbai. Students added that if St Xavier’s students are asked to write exams offline, the rest of the university students in the state should also be assessed through offline exams.
The lectures will continue for the time being and will end on March 26, after which the exams will start. With no study leave or extra time to try theory questions, the students add that this decision doesn’t give them time to prepare.
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