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University of Copenhagen
Independent of management
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Coronavirus
Corona — The Political Science, Economics and Psychology programmes have all chosen to convert written in-person exams to online exams in December. This is after hundreds of students expressed concern about the risk of infection.
The increasing infection rates in Denmark are now having consequences for a large number of students in the subjects of economics, psychology and political science.
The Faculty of Social Sciences has converted all written on-site exams that were supposed to have been held in-person in December to online examinations. This was decided by the boards of studies of the three departments on 15 December.
»I am really tired of corona, and this is quite frankly a real crap situation, but it is necessary to make the exams digital, because it is ultimately about people’s safety and comfort. This is the most important thing,« says Christian Ramon, who is a member of the Board of Studies for the Department of Economics and chair of the Politrådet student council.
»I’m happy that this offers students a bit more safety, so they don’t have to fear being exposed to corona up to Christmas. It would be a shame if you couldn’t celebrate Christmas with your family,« says Mads Strange, a member of the Board of Studies at the Department of Political Science and the chairman of Conservative Students at the University of Copenhagen.
The decision came after students on the Psychology programme protested over being crammed together on campus at a time of escalating infection numbers and an imminent Christmas celebration. Almost 300 psychology students had signed a petition that was sent to the department management on 7 December, something that was picked up by the Information news media.
The University of Copenhagen only received authorisation to reschedule exams from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science on 14 December. The Faculty of Social Sciences decided the following day to convert all written on-site examinations this month.
The decision will affect the large-scale written exams in Economics 1 on the Political Science programme, and Psychiatry on the Psychology programme, where groups of students are put in the same room to respond to an assignment over several hours.
The University of Copenhagen writes on its official Twitter account that it is also considering digital solutions elsewhere at the university:
»But the university is still open, and there needs to be equal conditions for all students. It is important that the exams test the students level in relation to the academic objectives.«