Students stage sit-in for online exam, fee discount

LAHORE:Students of different universities staging a demonstration outside Governor’s House here Monday demanded the conduct of online examinations.

Carrying banners inscribed with words “We want online exams” and chanting slogans they reached the Governor’s House where they observed a protest sit-in for quite some time demanding the Governor/Chancellor to intervene and direct universities to conduct online exams. They observed that because of the closure the universities conducted online classes and now instead of conducting online exams the universities were asking the students to appear in on-campus traditional exams. The students questioned that if classes could be conducted online why the universities could not conduct online exams. A number of students also criticised the universities for charging full fee during the closure and demanded the government direct universities to offer fee concession to the students for the closure period.

A police contingent was deployed outside the Governor’s House to prevent any untoward incident. The students dispersed peacefully after recording their protest. It is pertinent to mention that as per the government’s directions, public and private universities are scheduled to reopen from February 01. In this regard, a number of universities have issued schedule for physical examinations starting soon after the reopening of campuses.

Meanwhile, public and private institutions reopened after second closure for Class 8 to Class-12 on Monday. Education authorities formed a number of teams to check implementation of COVID-19 related SOPs in educational institutions. The education institutions have been directed to allow presence of 50 percent students on alternate days and ensure social distances and wearing of face masks by students, teachers and employees.