Students in Christ University in Bengaluru raised allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a proctor monitoring the online examinations of its students. In a screenshot taken from the university’s online proctoring system, a proctor was seen referring to a student as ‘baby’ in response to a query about the examination.
Speaking to TNM, multiple students of the university highlighted concerns about their proctor stating that they were asked to adjust their laptops multiple times during the examination. In particular, one student said she was asked to lower the camera angle while writing the exam and was threatened with a complaint of malpractice if she didn’t comply.
During one of the semester end examinations, a student asked the proctor if she could end the exam since she had submitted the document. The proctor in response said, “Three more minutes, baby”. Screenshots of the exchange were quickly brought to the notice of the faculty at the university. But the students say that one faculty member saw nothing wrong with the response and described it as a ‘caring approach’. A screenshot of this chat shows the faculty member telling the students, "Maybe the teacher was a senior person, take it in the right spirit."
Students claims that this has happened before also but no action was taken. Also, the proctor asks the girls to bend the camera. This isn't right and should not happen to anyone.
— NSUI Karnataka (@NSUIKarnataka) June 21, 2021
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Students are already in a lot of stress from lockdown and exam pressure. They went ahead and conducted exams ignoring voice raised unanimously by the students and @NSUIKarnataka. @ChristBangalore has to take action or else we will be forced to take up this issue.
— NSUI Karnataka (@NSUIKarnataka) June 21, 2021
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A Christ University FAQ about its end semester examinations stated that the university uses a third-party online examination platform for its examinations and that the proctors are faculty members. “The platform allows the students to take the examinations from the safety of their homes. The faculty of the University proctor the examination online and the entire duration of the examination is video and audio recorded to enable the verification of conduct of the Examination,” read the FAQ by Christ University. The third-party platform used by the university is Mettl, an online platform used by several universities to conduct examinations.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI), Karnataka, which is affiliated to the Indian National Congress (INC) took to social media to highlight the concerns of Christ University students about the proctoring of their online exams. A NSUI spokesperson told TNM that the UGC had written to the University to reconsider conducting its semester examinations but the university did not consider the suggestion.