ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has allowed universities to conduct online exams days after protests caught pace against on-campus examinations.
After the announcement, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood expressed his happiness over the HEC’s decision to allow universities to conduct online exams.
On a social media website Twitter, the education minister said, “he is happy to note that HEC has formally permitted the universities to conduct online exams with adequate safeguards.”
“This paves the way for them to devise the right procedures quickly to do so. Education standards must be kept up. Work hard students and wish you the best,” he added.
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
The HEC had announced that it is “up to the universities to decide whether they wanted to conduct in-person or online exams,” days after protests caught pace against on-campus examinations. The HEC said that it has taken notice of students’ concerns regarding the in-person examination.
Online exams either can be used if the universities administer ‘Open Book Exams’ or establish an invigilation system in a supervised environment. In this mode, universities will also have to use Turnitin to check similarity index with Web and the answers of other students.
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— HEC Pakistan (@hecpkofficial) January 27, 2021
“The apprehensions of students were reviewed carefully in consultation with the vice-chancellors of all the provinces and regions, keeping in view the difficulties brought about by the pandemic and opening of universities from February 01, 2021,” HEC said.
