Technical deficiencies lead to the postponement of the distance education exam at Mumbai University again.

The tests for the distance education wing of the University of Mumbai had to be delayed for the second day in a row.

Nearly 9,000 students of the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) had scheduled their TYBCom and TYBA exams on Tuesday, but more than 90% were unable to access the examination connexion in order to be able to appear for the paper.

IDOL issued a statement postponing the day’s examination due to “technical reasons” after receiving flak from students, many of them also gathered on Tuesday evening at the university’s Kalina campus.

For IDOL students, Saturday was the first exam and many could not enter the exam link or, worse still did not receive the exam link through e-mails either. On Tuesday, many took to Twitter to share their increasing anxiety.

I had signed into the exam app 15 minutes before the paper was scheduled to begin, but instead, I got an error message when the exam paper was expected to be uploaded.

The question paper also wasn’t available an hour after signing in, “said one of the students at TYBCom.In a report released on Tuesday night, the examination authorities clearly blamed “technical difficulty” for the mistake, but gave no reason for it.

We are in communication with the tech provider and they are also trying to figure out the precise reason for this mistake. The remaining papers will be carried out smoothly, we are sure,’ said Vinod Malale, deputy registrar (public relations).

This year, MU has decided to perform online exams for a tech company based in Singapore named Littlemore Innovation Labs.

The same issue also occurred on Saturday, when IDOL conducted its first paper, and due to similar technical problems, some students ended up skipping the exam.

The same tests have now been rescheduled for October’s second week. A re-scheduled timetable has yet to be confirmed for exams postponed on October 6.

By Tuesday night, members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNVS) had raised objections to the ongoing difficulties faced by students during the examination and had suggested that all examinations be postponed until the technical problems had been resolved.

Firstly, before the software issue is solved, the university can postpone all IDOL exams. To generate too much uncertainty and anxiety among the student population, the varsity should also consider suspending the software company’s services, said a statement issued by MNVS.