Just a month to go, UG students still in dark over exam pattern

New Delhi With less than a month to go for UG students from non-science streams to take their first-ever semester exams, history teachers of Delhi University say they are still in the dark regarding the examination pattern and duration.

Despite raising the issue with the Delhi University History Department a month ago, no meeting has been held on the upcoming exams, said Dr Rashmi Pant, who teaches history at

Indraprastha College for Women. Consequently, teachers have no way of responding to students’ queries, she added.

“We have no idea what the length of the exam will be, how many questions are to be attempted, or whether there will even be sections. It’s a huge concern for teachers. When few teachers met the department head a month ago, they told us that the exam would be of two hours’ duration. Yesterday, another official said the exam will be for three hours. Only the people setting the paper know what the examination is going to be like,” she said.

While a change in examination pattern was expected, in keeping with reforms associated with the introduction of the semester system, no communication in this regard has been sent to history departments of various colleges. “The revised syllabus (for students enrolled in the semester system) was sent very late this year, and it only said students have to answer three questions. Nothing was mentioned about the duration or choices. To this day, I have no idea what the paper is going to be like,” said Dr Malay Neerav, senior history professor at St Stephen’s College. The revised syllabus itself had been bifurcated senselessly, he added.

“There is no clarity. There was supposed to be a change in the exam pattern this year. In semester mode, examinations should be of two hours’ duration,” said Dr Ujjaiyini Ray from the Department of History, Lady Shri Ram College.

Meanwhile, the Department of History has said the exam pattern will be the same as that of the annual mode. Stating that details of the exam pattern will be conveyed to the colleges soon, department head Dr R S Thakran said, “There is no ambiguity.The old pattern will continue. The exam will be of three hours’ duration, and students will have to answer four out of eight questions,” he said.

While departments such as English, economics and commerce have already released notifications detailing the pattern of the upcoming BA (Honours) examination, confusion is rife in other subjects, such as Hindi. Teachers are unsure how to respond to students’ queries on the question paper pattern, with exams set to begin on November 23.

“When students ask us about the exam pattern, we tell them to go with the old model. There has been no official communication,” said Sanjay Kumar, who teaches Hindi at Deshbandhu College.

There will be no supplementary exams for students who fail the first semester exams. They will get a chance to reappear for the exams only by next November.