The Government College University Lahore has zero tolerance policy for plagiarism in online examinations, said Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Asghar Zaidi negating a myth that students can only be assessed properly in the conventional mode of examinations.

“Our experience is different. We prepare questions in such a way that test the students’ ability to consult and comprehend multiple sources, analyses the information they gather and make a critical argument,” said Prof. Dr. Asghar Zaidi in a press statement issued here on Tuesday with a schedule for the university’s online examinations.

The GCU Lahore will be conducting online examinations for the bachelor degrees in the last week of May. The examinations will be conducted according to the University’s new online education policy.

“The mode of examination can be a time-bound open book, open internet paper or long essay and viva,” said Prof. Zaidi.   

The VC said that they are conducting the online exams not only due to a pandemic situation but also because it has the potential to be a better system of assessment than the conventional sit-in examinations.

“Those who enter the university education after intermediate are only good at rote learning and reproducing information. They find it hard to build a coherent discussion in the sit-in examinations,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor highlighted that GCU’s online assessment policy develops students’ argumentative skills which is the main objective of higher education.

“A committee is deliberating to adopt this online assessment policy permanently as one of the modes of examinations for the faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences”, Prof. Zaidi released.

During online examinations, the University will give a user id to each student for every course to submit their papers to Turnitin software for the plagiarism check. This will ensure original and timely submissions

While commenting on the uncertain condition due to the Covid-19 crisis, Prof Zaidi said: “Western Universities responded to the pandemic by immediately adopting online assessment strategy for the next two to three years. It gave them certainty and prepared students and faculty members for online mode of examinations.”

The Vice Chancellor said the Pakistani universities should have followed a similar policy instead of relying on fortnightly announcements concerning lockdowns. “Uncertainty is affecting our university education,” Prof. Zaidi concluded.