HEC Permits Universities to Conduct Online Exams
Taking into account the unrest over the country and the protests held by students against on-campus exams, HEC has allowed online exams to be taken.
After widespread unrest in the country and several protests held by students against on-campus examinations, The Higher Education Commission (HEC), on Wednesday, has allowed universities to hold online exams.
The Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mehmood, took to Twitter to announce this news and said, “happy to note that HEC has formally allowed the universities to conduct online exams with adequate safeguards”.
I am happy to note that HEC has formally allowed the universities to conduct online exams with adequate safeguards. This paves the way for them to devise right procedures quickly to do so. Education standards must be kept up. Work hard students and wish you the best pic.twitter.com/8jgLKedivp
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) January 27, 2021
He further posted a picture of the HEC notification, Mehmood said that the decision would “pave the way for [universities] to devise the right procedures to quickly” hold online exams, adding that “education standards must be kept up.
The protests held by students against on-campus exams tragically turned violent a few days ago as students were baton-charged by the security guards of the concerned private university. Two students were seriously injured and hospitalized. Upon which multiple students demanded “justice for students” and a restriction on on-campus exams. Taking these pleas in mind, HEC allowed universities to conduct online exams.
Moreover, after the news of students getting injured spread, Shafqat Mehmood tweeted that, “This is a decision for the universities to make, but I have asked HEC to consult VCs and see if it is possible (to hold online exams) given special circumstances this year.”
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
Following Mr. Mehmood’s tweet, HEC released a statement which says it had, “taken note of the concerns raised by students of some universities that their examinations should be conducted online”. It said that their concerns were reviewed in consultation with the vice-chancellors of all the provinces and regions. The higher education body referred to its ‘Guidance on Assessment and Examinations’ and said that it had already “allowed universities to use their discretion to conduct exams, either on-campus or online as long as the chosen mode provides a fair assessment of students’ performance”.
Moreover, HEC also specified a few rules in its statement, it said that online exams could be held if the varsities administered ‘Open Book Exams’ or established an invigilation system in a supervised environment. If varsities choose the online mode, they would also have to use Turnitin, a software that detects plagiarised material, to check the students’ “similarity index with the web and their answers”, according to the guidelines.
Providing more guidelines for online examinations, they said, “Further, viva/oral exam may be integrated into the assessment where necessary.” However, the HEC clarified that on-campus exams could be held only under “strict compliance with all Covid-19 health and safety protocols”. Addressing another concern of the students, it said that universities “also have to organize make-up classes for two weeks in case students consider the course coverage to be deficient”.
“Assessment of all courses requiring psychomotor skills, such as medicine, engineering, subjects involving lab/studio work must be held on campus, however, online exams for all theoretical subjects should take place. “All students in a single course will be examined in the same mode i.e., either on-line or on-campus,” the HEC statement added.
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