IBA cancels exams amid pandemic

New grading policy means students will either pass or fail courses, with no effect on CGPA

KARACHI: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, has opted for a pass-fail grading policy while cancelling formal final examinations in its spring semester amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the new policy, students will not be awarded grades for the courses they were taking this semester. As a result, their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) will remain unaffected by their performance during a semester that was disrupted due to the ongoing health crisis.

While the institution had previously mulled having examinations on campus in June, the administration decided that instead of final examinations, students would be assessed on assignments that they had already submitted during the course of the semester.

While students attaining less than 60 per cent in the submitted assignments, quizzes and projects will fail the course, instructors have been directed to consult their respective department chairpersons before failing a student in the course.

An email had been sent out to the students and faculty by IBA executive director Dr Akbar Zaidi over the weekend to inform them about the new policy.

"The email states that the current semester would be considered to have ended on May 17, while examinations are not needed for passing or failing students in this semester," a faculty member told The Express Tribune. "The students will be assessed based on the assignments, quizzes and projects that had already been assigned to them," he added.

According to the email, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the changed assessment policy has been formulated only for the spring semester and will be applicable to any final or thesis projects as well.

The email added that though the teaching system at IBA had been disrupted by the pandemic over the last two months, the administration had tried to maintain the standards of the institute through online classes. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2020.