Pune: The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has taken action against 11 students who allegedly indulged in malpractices during the online proctored examination conducted for backlog subjects.

The SPPU had conducted online exams for students based on multiple-choice-questions (MCQ) format. During the online exam conducted for final year students, there was no control over it by any software. As a result, students could start and pause the examination anytime they wanted.

Some students sat together, surfed the internet to search answers for questions asked and then attempted and completed the exam. Since students were opening many sites simultaneously, they faced technical problems while submitting the answers online.

After complaints of technical problems during online exams, Pune University then decided to conduct the online exams through a proctored method. In this method, the software detects any attempt to open another site or presence of other individuals than the candidate in front of the camera, or any other sound (prompting) during the exam.

Students are alerted if they are found violating the examination norms. Some students appearing for backlog subjects examination were alerted through the software after which they stopped the malpractices. However, some of them continued with their act and were barred from the exam.

According to the SPPU exam department officials, action has been initiated against 11 such students. Their file has been submitted to an exam certification committee which will take further action against the students.

SPPU has decided to conduct the first semester exam in March. This exam will also be conducted through the online proctored method. This time it will be mandatory for students to have a front camera on their mobile. If the students flout any norm for 12 times, they will be barred from the exam, SPPU officials informed.