Shafqat Mahmood takes notice of students protesting against physical exams

The Higher Education Commission has been instructed to consult with the vice-chancellors of varsities over the matter of online examinations, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said.

In a series of tweets on Monday, he said that the decision regarding examinations lies under the domain of the universities. “But I have asked HEC to consult VCs and see if it is possible given special circumstances this year.”

The minister pointed out that the varsities should assess if they have the technical ability to conduct exams for students from all departments.

Some university students are demanding that their exams should be online as they have been studying online. This is a decision for the universities to make but I have asked HEC to consult VCs and see if it is possible given special circumstances this year. 1/2

— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) January 25, 2021

“It is also necessary to ensure that the online exam system is not misused to get easy grades. Preparing good question papers and assessments is important,” he added.

Students take to the streets against physical exams

Students across Pakistan, including those from Islamabad’s National University of Modern Languages, and Multan’s NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology have been protesting against varsities’ decision of taking exams for the Fall semester 2020-2021 in person.

They have demanded that throughout the semester, they took classes online, and therefore exams, too, should be taken that way. “The learning management system was broken down most of the times and the quality of our classes were very bad,” one of the protesters complained.

Related: Varsity students continue to demand online exams in Pakistan

The students have demanded that either exam be taken online or universities should postpone the finals.

“Give us classes on campus for two months and then take the exams,” they said, adding that otherwise, they will continue their protests. Following this, #StudentsWantOnlineExams started trending on Twitter.

Protest infront of Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi@ShahzadYunasPTI @Shafqat_Mahmood @hecpkofficial #AridiansReject_PhysicalExams #StudentsWantOlineExams pic.twitter.com/ngXLaw2Y9K

— Wasif Salim (@WasifSalim3) January 18, 2021

#StudentsWantOlineExams
The classes were be titled as “online classes” ,but these were just “student paid fine” classes , these are “stress of mind” classes.
And now they are demanding Physical Exams!! pic.twitter.com/BrH5KuAcOB

— Hadii (@Hadii010) January 18, 2021

Protests ensued in other parts of the country such as Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan as well. Following this, a number of varsities such as the University of Management and Technology and the University of Peshawar reverted their decision and postponed the examinations.

Management of universities had earlier said that as the government was reopening universities from February 1, they might as well take exams on campus.