DU's tentative exam schedule sparks outrage among teachers over overlapping classes, exams

New Delhi [India], October 13 (ANI): Delhi University’s newly released tentative date sheet for semester exams has drawn sharp criticism from teachers, who have flagged major scheduling overlaps that could disrupt both teaching and examinations.

According to the date sheet hosted on the university’s examination portal, semester exams for undergraduate programmes will begin on December 10, 2025, and continue till January 30, 2026. However, classes for the even semester are scheduled to commence on January 2, resulting in a month-long overlap between ongoing exams and new semester classes.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Front (DTF) and several Academic Council members have said the overlap will make it impossible to manage both teaching and examination duties simultaneously.

“This is a matter of great concern, there will be a massive overlap of one month of both regular classes and exams in January 2026,” said Mithuraaj Dhusiya, member of DU executive council. “While in the recent past, DU attributed such overlap to a staggered academic calendar, what has happened now when there is no staggered academic calendar? How can students appear in exams as well as attend classes simultaneously for a whole month?”

He further questioned the feasibility of running offline classes while exams are underway. “Do colleges have the infrastructure to run both exams and hold classes simultaneously for one whole month? DU’s official position is that classes for regular courses are held offline, yet there is its tacit approval to colleges for online classes during such overlaps,” Dhusiya said.

Echoing the concern, Abha Dev Habib, Secretary of the Delhi Teachers’ Front (DTF) and Associate Professor at Miranda House, said the calendar reflects poor planning and disregard for academic integrity.

"Lakhs of students are supposed to take exams and attend next semester's classes simultaneously. Teachers are expected to teach, invigilate, and evaluate at the same time. With SOL and NCWEB exams held alongside, there will be an acute shortage of space, forcing many colleges to move classes online,” she said, urging the university to extend the winter break until major exams conclude.

Adding to the chorus of dissent, Rudrashish Chakraborty, an elected member of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) Executive, called the situation “a theatre of the absurd.”

“Clearly we are not teaching in a University! It’s a circus all over the place,” he said. “As per the tentative datesheet, the entire month of January will go into conducting the end-semester examinations of the odd semester, including regular, SOL, and NCWEB courses. Even if colleges decide to conduct online classes, students will be preoccupied with exams, so one full month will be wasted without teaching. Teachers will have to clone themselves four times over, to teach, invigilate, evaluate, and conduct practicals simultaneously.”

Teachers have called on the university to revisit the calendar and restore academic order, warning that such overlap will not only compromise the quality of teaching and learning but also delay results. (ANI)