OBE stands for Open Books Examination . In recent times since the pandemic has started we have seen the whirlwind of panic and chaos it created. Similarly, it gave rise to questions and created holes in the education system .

This created a wide gap between the continuous education system worldwide and to give a break from studies was the only solution at that point followed by postponement and scrapping of exams. But that practice couldn’t be continued .

So , to discontinue that one time practice and also

considering the catastrophic effects of pandemic , online education and a new concept of examination namely OBE took place worldwide in 2020. It’s been in continuation since then . 

But online education has its pros and cons and so does the Open Book Examination . Meanwhile , this method and technology was an achievement for its digitalization , it was a boon for the quality education and a curse for the examination system.

Compared with the old examination methods , the Open Book Examination must have been one of the hard decisions for the officials.  

The reason for that is it gives so much room for the students to cheat and plagiarism may be the most likely thing to happen during this practice . 

A case like this was reported just recently from the University of Delhi when a group of hundred students was caught for making a group on social media apps for the upcoming exams to cheat . Although , the students were reported to the officials in time and strict actions were taken . 

The positive side of this method is that it gives space to students for their logical thinking and makes them work precisely on their conceptual knowledge. Afterall , it’s a known fact that to succeed in life theoretical knowledge is not the only thing to be considered for an individual’s brain . Strong logical and critical thinking has an equal value and so does the aptitude . 

Just as it saved students from cramming like parrots and made them use their brain logically and functionally , Open Book Examinations are very time consuming and lengthy .

Many complaints have been reported for glitches on submission portals during the exam submission due to the heavy traffic on sites. This issue created so much havoc among students because of fear of late submission but all the effect of the same on their results . Overall , the complaints were taken into consideration and effective measures were taken to look over the issue.  

The conclusion is that Open Book Examinations has a pros and cons ratio of 50:50.  

It may affect the education quality but it also gives students the time to think and analyse their topics thoroughly and conveniently during these tough times. 

And Maybe we will observe in future that cramming for examinations and the memorized theoretical knowledge is not the best judge of an individual’s brain. Because the ability of an individual’s skills and thinking are much more than the bookish knowledge we have read since our childhood . But that’s for the future observation and verdict . For now , we can only work with optimism and a positive hope so that everything goes smoothly and just fine . 

• Loveleen Kaur 

       (Growth Central VC)