As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, McGill students are enraged by the university’s decision to hold in-person exams. McGill University students appearing to take final exams on a frigid winter day last week found a line stretching nearly a kilometre along Pins Ave. to get into the exam room.
The institution has been petitioned to convert to online tests for finals, citing safety concerns relating to the increased number of COVID-19 instances.
“Firsthand testimonies of students returning to campus for in-person midterms report sitting in a crowded lecture hall with hundreds of their classmates, scribbling their answers while they brush elbows with their neighbours,” according to the petition on change.org website.
“Only to learn a few days later (through email from McGill) that they had made contact with a COVID-19 case. Under these circumstances, receiving this news is virtually anticipated.” McGill confirmed on Twitter that it is looking into the matter after videos and photographs began to circulate.
McGill said on Wednesday, “We have listened to criticism about yesterday’s exam concerns (downtown) and have adopted new entrance protocols commencing today to fix challenges mentioned.” There were no lineups outside on Tuesday, indicating that the adjustment in entrance protocol had worked.
Each exam room will have appropriate circulation, according to McGill’s exam standards, and the university has analyzed CO2 levels in its campuses. Furthermore, only 90% of classes will have in-person exams, which will all require masks to be worn and masks to be changed each four hours.
Between December 5 and 11, 12 instances were reported on campus, according to McGill’s COVID-19 status dashboard, with no cases related to McGill classrooms.
Source: CTV News
