Delhi University may defer the online open book exams by a month after the University Grants Commission (UGC) advised higher education institutions to assess their graduating batch by the end of September. The open book exams are scheduled to start from July 10. The university may now hold it after August 15, The Indian Express has learnt. DU's final-year exams and admission calendar were discussed at a meeting called by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday. "Held a meeting with officials of @HRDMinistry and Delhi University today to discuss a synchronised calendar for DU admissions & #CBSE board examination results etc. I would like to assure everyone that we at MHRD are committed to students' health and quality education," Pokhriyal tweeted. The university, sources said, is also looking at extending its admission window to accommodate students appearing for national engineering and medical entrance tests. JEE (Main), the gateway exam for admission to the NITs, is scheduled to be held over six days - September 1 to 6. NEET, meant for undergraduate medical programmes, is scheduled for September 13, and JEE (Advanced) for September 27. DU may wind up its admission process only after these entrance tests are over. The new academic session for first year students is likely to start in November. The meeting between university representatives and ministry officials was held amidst growing student discontent over DU's decision to evaluate them online. Last week, DU's attempt at a dry run saw complaints from final year students, many of whom faced difficulty in registering and uploading answer scripts. Some were even allotted incorrect question papers. Teachers said they were inundated with panic calls and messages from students, as #DUAgainstOnlineExams trended on Twitter. DU is unlikely to cancel exams since the UGC and Ministry of Home Affairs said Monday that final year or terminal semester exams would have to be compulsorily conducted by September-end.
