UWI students worry over exam finals

AS many secondary and primary school students remain anxious owing to uncertainty amid covid19, the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine has assured its students that final exams are still on. But some are uncertain whether they will be mentally prepared to enter exam mode.

Initially, the campus’ final examinations were scheduled to begin on April 27 and end on May 15.

But on March 13, the Prime Minister announced the closure of all schools, universities and tertiary institutions for one week to reduce the spread of covid19. This was then extended to April 20.

But Dr Rowley has since said this would no longer be the case as the stay-at-home order has been extended to April 30. As of 4 pm on Saturday, the country had 112 confirmed cases of the virus, eight deaths and 12 patients have been discharged.

In a release on Friday, campus registrar Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill said UWI’s exam dates have been shifted because of the pandemic. Exams will now begin on May 25 and end on June 19.

She said, “I know that this is a difficult and unsettling time and that you will naturally be worried about the potential impact on your academic progress.

“Since the start of the coronavirus disease outbreak, the campus has been working assiduously to find the right approach to maintain our academic and quality standards, while providing the best support to you during this period.”

Teaching has been continuing online via video conference applications such as Zoom and will end on May 8.

A second-year pharmacy student told Sunday Newsday some of her lecturers are not very familiar with Zoom so they do not always get to finish classes properly.

“So there are short periods where their audio is off and they are only allotted a certain period of time (40 minutes) to have lectures. But other than that, they are able to answer questions we have.”

She said some exams will also be held online, which has worried some of her classmates who either have poor or no internet connection. She believes this is unfair.

Her degree also has practical and oral examinations but they have not been given any official dates for those exams.

“All we were told is that when the lockdown is lifted, we’ll be updated about when those will be.”

She added that the university should understand as students are now at home, the environment may not be ideal for studying based on either domestic issues or lack of resources. For instance, she usually studies at the library.

A final-year sociology student shared similar sentiments. He said the stress of the spread of covid19 and that of school is making it difficult to cope. He said some of his peers have to take care of their parents and others have problems at home.

“I feel the university hasn’t taken in that its students aren’t mentally there work-wise.”

“I’m trying but I am in no position to be doing exams.

“I am praying but also really grateful to have a support system of friends who always message and check up on me and everyone else.”

He said online classes have been okay so far but he too felt it was unfair to those without internet access.

“And even when one has internet, there are a lot of technical difficulties, especially for me. Zoom makes my computer go crazy.”

Graduate students are also being affected by these developments. One post-graduate student in the department of behavioural sciences said there has not been sufficient communication.

While they do not have any final exams, they have to conduct research and presentations.

“I don’t know if because of the covid19 situation, we would be able to do our presentation in the summer which is considered a third semester. Because it’s usually May this year or May next year. I don’t know if they would consider pushing back our research presentation, or we would have to do it next year.”

She added, “I need more time. My mind is all over the place and I’m just frustrated and I’m in a mental block. They didn’t even reach out to us to tell us when our presentation would be.”

The UWI Mona campus in Jamaica, however, will be resuming classes online according to a release on March 25. It said this will be done from April 14 until it is safe enough to resume face-to-face interactions.

The semester at Mona has also been extended for four weeks.