Students must not cover faces during exams

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a notice issued by Dhaka University's Bangla department asking its students to keep their faces and ears uncovered during exams and presentations.

The SC's Appellate Division yesterday stayed a High Court order that halted the effectiveness of the notice issued on December 11 last year.

The apex court also asked the HC to hear and dispose of, in two months, a rule on the authorities concerned to explain as to why the Bangla department's decision should not be declared illegal.

A full bench of the Appellate Division led by Justice Md Nuruzzaman passed the order after the department appealed against the HC order.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin appeared for the Bangla department, while lawyer Belayet Hossain argued for the petitioners.

On March 28, the HC stayed for six months the effectiveness of the notice after three students of the department filed a writ petition after which the HC issued the rule.

Talking to The Daily Star, Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, said, "I think it [covering faces] can cause indiscipline if students cannot be identified in the exam halls. If the faces are not open, how will the teachers identify the students? How will the teachers be able to find out if one gives a proxy for a student?"

"Especially, during the viva voce teachers have to evaluate the examinees not just based on their answer and also their behaviour and body language are taken into account. To do the evaluations, teachers need to identify the students and for this, faces of students should remain open."

"So in my opinion, the decision of the Appellate Division and Bangla department was correct and other educational institutions should follow this," he added.

Prof Tanzimuddin Khan, of the DU's international relations department, said, "There should be a way to identify any student who is attending classes or taking examinations. Even the teachers will not be able to help a student during any emergency if he or she is not known to them."

"The teachers' security may also be at risk if they cannot identify the students," he added.

Tanzimuddin said keeping faces of students uncovered during exams is a very common global practice and it should be followed.