'Why Were B.Com Students From DU's School of Open Learning Given Zero in Exams?'

Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan

On 30 August, several B.Com and B.Com (Hons) students of Delhi University's School of Open Learning (SOL) staged a protest against the university, demanding a fair evaluation, after many of them received a 'zero' in their exams.

Several other students were marked absent in the exams, even though they appeared for them, the results for which were declared on 21 August. This has come as a surprise for the students.

Being a DU student myself, I spoke to some of the protesters to understand their issues.

"In one of my subjects, Management Accounting, they failed me and marked a zero. I went to them for a re-evaluation. My preparation was good. How have they given me a zero? They didn't have an answer. They said that the only solution to this is to fill the re-evaluation form for which Rs 1,000 would be charged, and in 75 days, I will get the results. Some students have been marked absent, even though they were present on the exam date."

Bhushan, Third Year Student, Delhi University

Keshav, another third-year BCom student, wasn't happy with his result either.

"In one of the subjects, they have marked me absent and given a zero. They have taken the re-evaluation fees from me, but are now refusing to re-evaluate the subject. They have charged Rs 1,000 per subject and yet they are not agreeing to re-evaluate. Earlier, they had marked me absent. That has been corrected now because I brought the attendance sheet from my exam centre, which was Shivaji College."

Keshav, Third Year Student, Delhi University

What DU needs to take note of is that most of the students studying at SOL come from humble backgrounds and don't have a very strong financial backing. For many of them, paying Rs 1,000 for re-evaluation is also a big ask.

"They (DU) have made this mistake. They say that it could be anybody's fault so we can go for re-evaluation after paying Rs 1,000. Where do we get Rs 1,000 from? In SOL, most students, including myself, come from humble backgrounds. We have already paid for our exams and books, though we haven't received the latter yet."

Pushpendra, Third Year Student, Delhi University

"People from the examination control are asking us to speak to the SOL authority, saying that their job is to conduct the exams and distribute marksheets. They say that if we have a problem, we need to speak to SOL. They are just explaining their rules," added Pushpendra.

The irregularities and negligence by the university are coming in the way of the futures and careers of several students. Since these are final year students, all of them had plans to take further admissions or to look for jobs, but sadly due to the results, these plans have derailed.

"We are unable to proceed with our future plans. If no solution comes out of this, one year of our lives would be wasted, and we won't be able to do what we had planned."

Bhushan, Third Year Student, Delhi University

"I am also a student of CA. I have cleared my second-year exam and for the third year, I need the degree of the BCom programme and only then would I be able to clear third year. Because of the results they have given, I am unable to clear my third year," added Keshav.

"They are saying that they will give the results of the re-evaluation in 3-4 months, which will be of no help to us by then. The results should come in 10-15 days so that it helps us to take admission in masters' programmes which are going to be closed by 25 September. If they declare the results considering all these things, then it's great, otherwise, we will intensify our protest," says Keshav.

(The Quint has reached out to the School of Open Learning, Delhi University. The calls have gone unanswered. We will try to get in touch with them via other channels. The story will be updated once a response is received.)

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