The upcoming June exam period at Stellenbosch University (SU) will involve both face-to-face and online exams. This was according to Martin Viljoen, spokesperson of Stellenbosch University (SU).
The Institutional Committee for Business Continuity (ICBC) at SU recently held a meeting to discuss logistics for the upcoming June exams. Exams begin officially on 21 June and are expected to end on 24 July, according to the SU website.
“Some [exams] will be in person, and some will be online,” said Viljoen in email correspondence with MatieMedia. “There is a whole list of arrangements drawn up,” he added, in reference to the work being done by the ICBC to ensure the safety of students [see infographic].
Precautions have been put in place by the Institutional Committee for Business Continuity at Stellenbosch University to ensure the safety of students during exams. INFOGRAPHIC: Keanan Hemmonsbey
The ICBC meeting, which took place on 3 June, involved discussions around the precautions that will be put in place to ensure the safety of students writing face-to-face exams, according to Viljoen.
If an exam is listed as a face-to-face, invigilated exam by the faculty-specific assessment plans, it cannot also be offered as an online exam for students who are unable to write it face-to-face, according to a statement by the SU Examinations Office, sent to MatieMedia by Viljoen.
“There are 231 [face-to-face] exams scheduled on main campus, in written venues and in computer-user areas,” according to the statement.
Lecture Hall 229 in the BA building at Stellenbosch University, which will be used as an examination venue. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
Student concern around exam safety measures
Meanwhile, however, some SU students have started a petition for exams and classes to be exclusively online, said Asheeqa van Schalkwyk, a final-year humanities student at SU.
“Everything should be online like it was last year, because there was no problem, but now our health is being jeopardised,” said Van Schalkwyk.
The petition was started anonymously on 19 May, and has gained over 3 000 signatures. The petition claimed that it would not be possible to maintain social distancing when students have to write exams in venues on campus.
Malikah Felaar, a member of the social impacts portfolio for the Student Representative Council (SRC), claimed that university policies around Covid-19 were inconsistent and said this has been a concern for students. Many students are unable to study on campus, because most of the study venues are at maximum capacity, she added
“The entire concept of doing online learning, but writing [exams] in person, is completely frustrating to many [students],” said Felaar.
Some students at Stellenbosch University have only been doing online learning but will write face-to-face exams. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
MatieMedia reached out to the Stellenbosch University Student Representative Council for an official statement, but they had not responded at the time of publishing.