IIT-B gets into hybrid exam mode

The picture of students taking the exam in a classroom shared by IIT-B Director Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri on his Facebook page

The Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT-B) has set an example, as it began its mid-semester examination in hybrid mode on Saturday. While most students are appearing for the exam online from their homes, students who are already on campus, are back to in-person classroom exams though through a device, to ensure parity.

Director of the institute Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said, "Students who are on campus are taking the mid-semester exam in classrooms by following all Covid-19 safety norms while the other students are taking it online from their home by following complete full-view proctoring. Hopefully by the end-semester time we will have more students in the campus and they can all take the exams in our IIT classrooms." He also shared a photo of the in-person exam from one of the classrooms. "As per the state policy on the pandemic, we are still not allowed to hold classroom lectures. However, many of our students are currently on campus, we thought of providing a real feel for the exam by inviting them to answer them in the classrooms by following all Covid norms," said Prof Chaudhuri.

The idea according to the institute is to take the first step toward hybrid learning mode in these difficult times. "We have about 1,000 UG students on campus currently, they came back due to access issues in remote learning mode. Here too, they are attending classes online but have easy access to devices and the internet. To ensure parity, they too are appearing for exam in the same way as others who are in remote mode i.e. using devices such as phones etc. to receive the question paper, submit answers, or even upload photos of some answers required to be solved on paper," said Prof S Sudarshan, deputy director of academics and infrastructure.

Adequate arrangements are made such as properly ventilated classrooms, exhaust and ceiling fans and maintaining six feet distance between two students. Further elaborating on why this hybrid mode of exam is only for UG students, when some PG (Post Graduate) students too are on campus, Prof. Sudarshan said, "We did not want to start with a big number in the first go. Even in the case of UG, a hybrid exam is not for all, as individual course instructors were asked to take a decision on whether they want to hold their exam so. In numbers, out of total courses in UG, about 25 per cent are holding exams in this hybrid mode." Currently there are around 5,000 students on campus out of whom only 1,000 are from UG courses and another 1,000 roughly from PG courses. Others are Ph D students.

NEET exam held

The National Entrance and Eligibility Test (NEET) for admissions to medical courses was conducted in offline mode across India on Sunday. While it was more or less a smooth experience, candidates from few centres were shocked that their admit cards were not taken and OMR sheets were separated. "The two pages of OMR sheet are always submitted together but at the K J Somaiya college Centre in Mumbai, the invigilator asked students to separate them. In S P Engineering College centre, the invigilator did not collect the admit cards of students," said Ruhi Kapoor, a parent. Affected students plan to write to the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the exam.