Be fair, bring out a no-fail policy, say IIT-B students

A car race at IIT-B’s popular Techfest. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

IIT-Bombay students have demanded a no-fail policy saying they are struggling with end-semester exams amid a raging pandemic. They say it is unfair to mark them on regular exam practice when not all are on equal grounds in the remote learning environment.

The Powai institute's official student media body has posted an article raising many such concerns over exams. "Empathy in letter, but apathy in spirit," stated the article which is out a week after the institute said it would allow students to take the ongoing end-semester exam at a later date, if he/she or any family member is battling COVID.

The students have cited other institutes where changes have been made to grading systems, including the no-fail policy at IIT-Kanpur, to counter the IIT-B's decision.
According to the students, they are unable to perform at their best and when the impact of pandemic conditions is not uniform for all, having a uniform evaluation process is unfair. In such a situation, failing anyone will be akin to punishment for factors that are beyond a student's control.

"While the admin claims to have put in place ‘new' policies to combat this, there is no real change for students from an academic perspective. The few policy ‘changes' so far include only the bare minimum. Based on a survey conducted by a few departments, over 1,000 students have been adversely affected by the pandemic. We don't consider the administration's response to be sufficient given the circumstances and we demand that they enforce some real changes," reads the article posted by the student media body - Insight.

The institute says a complete ‘no-fail' policy cannot be an option, especially because a lot of evaluation is already done during the semester that was held virtually.
Prof. S Sudarshan, Deputy Director of Academics and Infrastructure, said they have extended the exam duration to till June end instead of the original time limit of till May end. "The institute has brought in a policy of allowing students to convert their grades for project work to pass/fail grade instead of regular grades, considering that some may not have been able to complete the project due to lack of laboratory access or other uncontrollable circumstances," he said.

According to Prof Sudarshan, "Professors have been given flexibility in how to conduct the end-semester exams, with an objective to help students. When these decisions were taken even before the article, the institute has subsequently encouraged faculty to be considerate in grading, and also encouraged faculty to avoid giving an FR (fail without re-exam option), and to instead give at a minimum a chance to take a re-exam to clear the course."

The institute plans to hold a survey to understand the difficulties faced by students. "Our current estimate is that across departments, the number of students who have not been able to appear or focus for end-semester examination is far less than those who could. And so, it is important for the academics of the majority of students that the semester runs as it normally does, while the institute provides required flexibility to give all students a chance to clear the semester successfully," he added.

1,000 Plus - Students hit by the pandemic as per their media body