New Delhi, Delhi University students reached test centres across the capital on Saturday for their discipline-specific examinations, only to be left waiting for hours as delays in the delivery of question papers disrupted the start of the exams at several centres.
DU professors said at least 35 question papers were “missing” or “delayed”.
Abha Dev Habib, associate professor of physics at Miranda House, said students waited for more than two hours, and many were even prepared to leave without appearing for their exams.
“Mathematics and physics students were the worst affected since their question papers got delayed at multiple centres,” she said, adding that infrastructure has not been scaled up in proportion with the rise in the number of students at DU colleges.
A South campus college principal, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said exams for 30-70 discipline-specific courses for Semester-7 were scheduled at different centres as per the date sheet, but several question papers did not reach the centres even after three hours.
“It was total chaos. The National Education Policy-driven four-year undergraduate programme has led to an increased number of exams because of a rise in the number of papers per semester, and examination work has increased manifold. This has led to a total collapse in conducting examinations,” the principal said.
The DU controller of examination said in a statement, “Approximately 800 papers were scheduled for the morning session today. Due to some logistical issues, a few papers could not be dispatched, and the same could not be conducted at some examination centres.”
“It is hereby informed that the said logistical issue was subsequently rectified, and the question papers were successfully sent thereafter. However, the students of honours courses, who have to appear in three elective subjects, were given four slots, and they can appear in the subsequent three slots.
“For programme courses, revised schedule/date for the affected paper shall be notified separately in due course and will be conducted by the second week of January, 2026,” the statement said.
The DU administration said, “Students are advised to regularly visit the official university website for further updates. The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”
Under the National Education Policy framework, DSE stands for discipline-specific elective, which are advanced, specialised optional courses offered within a student’s main discipline in the later semesters, usually in the third or fourth year, to allow for deeper and more focused study.
They differ from core subjects, known as discipline-specific core courses, and from interdisciplinary options offered as generic electives.
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