HEC advises universities to select best assessment mode as per their capacity

Islamabad : Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Wednesday advised the universities to take stock of their ‘exam readiness’, i.e., technological readiness, managerial capacity, and the announced policy, and choose the best possible mode of assessment.

The advice came out after a consultation organised by HEC in response to protests demonstrations organised by students in different parts of the country against the decision to hold on-campus examinations. The protests turned violent in some cities where baton-charge and tear gas was used to disperse the protesters. A number of students also got arrested. The students are demanding online tests as they say that they didn’t attend physical classes due to COVID-19 and examinations should also be taken through the same mode.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) took note of the concerns raised by students of some universities that their examinations should be conducted online. The apprehensions of students were reviewed 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 Guidance on Assessment and Examinations is available at the link https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/HECAnnouncements/Documents/nCoVirus/Assessments-Examinations.pdf. In this policy, HEC already allowed universities to use their discretion to conduct exams, either on-campus or online as long as the chosen mode provides a fair assessment of students’ performance.

A press statement issued at the end of the consultation says that the HEC has advised higher education institutions to take online exams only 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 the similarity index with the Web and the answers of other students. Further, a viva/oral exam may be integrated into the assessment where necessary.

On-campus exams can be used only under strict compliance with all COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The universities may also have to organise make-up classes for two weeks in case students consider the course coverage to be deficient. The assessment of all courses requiring psychomotor skills, such as medicine, engineering, subjects involving lab/studio work must be held on campus.

The statement also says that all students in a single course will be examined in the same mode i.e., either on-line or on-campus. It mentions that since March 2020, HEC has been continuously monitoring the pandemic situation and coordinated with the universities to minimize academic disruption and continue online education with quality safeguards. The HEC Guidance on Online Readiness (#5) and Assessments and Examinations (#6) are available on the HEC website and provide the requirements and minimum standards to be observed by universities.