After student protests and BCI Expert Committee report, AMU Faculty of Law to use take-home assignments instead of online viva

In a victory for law students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the Faculty of Law has decided to conduct end-semester examinations through take-home assignments instead of online viva voce..An emergency meeting was held today at the Faculty of Law, AMU wherein it was decided that instead of conducting online viva, the faculty would accept take-home assignments..Speaking to Bar & Bench, one of the Professors present at the meeting said,."We took into consideration the BCI report and following conclusions were reached: - Students can submit home-based assignment- Last date to submit assignments will be notified. There will be a schedule to submit the home-based assignment..Further, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Mohammad Ashraf clarified that they might be a grand viva instead of viva voce in each subject. ."We have decided not to hold any viva, instead a grand viva, and all the submission would be in assignment mode," he said..The students had written to Chairman of the Law Department ( Professor, Zaheer Uddin) urging cancellation of the viva voce that was scheduled to be held this month. They had earlier sent a representation to the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Education Minister of Uttar Pradesh..Expressing the difficulty in appearing for exams at short notice amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the letter endorsed by more than 500 students reads:."Even students who have not faced any direct loss are suffering on account of their friends’ distress and suffering. And at the risk of their own health, many students have been engaged in relief efforts throughout.......we're all young adults living in unprecedented time-sheet, many of whom are traumatized and still coming to terms with our losses. An uncertain future lies ahead of many of us. Many of us had big dreams for the future, but now, the struggle is to merely survive. We are all under a lot of pressure and vivas would only add to it. Our humble request to the administration, therefore, is to be empathetic to our plight. Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary understanding and a degree of compassion and empathy.".The notice for the end-semester exams was received by the students on June 7, 2021, at around 5 pm. They were informed that the exams will be conducted from June 12. In reaction to the notice, the students tried to have a dialogue with the administration, who refused to table any such discussion.While talking to Bar and Bench, a final year student said:"It is disheartening that the syllabus is yet to be completed. This is not how a democratic set-up works, especially in a Central University, at such a crucial time of the pandemic. We are not asking the administration to cancel exams, rather putting forward a point to take assignments in lieu of viva, considering the severity of the situation.".The students thus called for the viva voce exams to be cancelled and demanded that evaluation be done of the basis of take-home assignments.."we have some blind students here, but no special provisions are there, like when examinations were held offline, they were given a scribe or support, but now they are on their own."IV Year Student at AMU.Raking up another issue, a fourth year student of the University told Bar & Bench,."The administration is not even engaging in any discussion with the students, we have some blind students here, but no special provisions are there, like when examinations were held offline, they were given a scribe or support, but now they are on their own.".At present, there are no special arrangements in place for visually challenged students and those with other disabilities. On this issue, the Chairman, Zaheer Uddin said,"We are just following the BCI guidelines and I know how many blind students are there. If they cannot see, they can surely hear and every blind person is using a mobile, but we will try to arrange a telephonic/audio interview for them. But at present there are no special regulations. We will arrange two teachers for the viva and there is no need for such regulations.".The University's decision come in the wake of the recommendations made by the Expert Committee constituted by the BCI. In its report accepted by the BCI, the Committee permitted online, offline, blended, online open book exams, assessment-based evaluation or research papers as modes of evaluation..End-term examination to be mandatorily conducted by all law schools: Expert Committee formed by BCI.Professor Wasim Ali said,"Our main objective is to conduct the examinations, but we are trying to do that proportionately, after the BCI report, we can take into consideration alternative methods of conduct end semesters, like submissions of assignments rather than viva-voice.".On a similar note, the Delhi High Court, last week issued notice in a petition by final-year students from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University seeking cancellation of fourth semester examinations that were postponed last year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Final-year LL.B. students of the Faculty of Law wrote to the BCI and the expert committee calling for cancellation of pending intermediate exams