Hong Kong university expresses regret after lecturer refuses to bend online exam rules for student in Myanmar
- Student at Education University of Hong Kong wrote to teacher asking for flexible arrangements for test, citing internet blackouts
- But lecturer refused, saying no special treatment could be given and student should wake up early to try out her connection
The humanities student, who studies at the Education University of Hong Kong and had been taking virtual lessons, said her lecturer dismissed her concerns over attending the exam after the Easter holiday in April, citing “fairness” concerns.
The military seized control of Myanmar on February 1 and has cracked down violently on the near-daily protests, detaining thousands and killing at least 550 people, including dozens of children. After cutting off internet access nightly, the junta tightened its grip on the flow of information on Friday by ordering telecoms operators to shut down wireless broadband services entirely, several news outlets reported.
Local students studying with overseas institutions have been struggling with the curbs. The EdU student wrote emails to the linguistics and modern language studies lecturer last month saying she might not be able to log in on time for an upcoming sociolinguistics exam and asking for more flexible arrangements.
“As you are aware, I have network issues due to my special circumstances,” the student wrote, according to screenshots of email correspondences. “I will try my best to be punctual, but I may not be able to start the exam at 8.30am sharp.”
But the lecturer, who told the student “we must treat everybody the same”, asked her not to “worry too much” while rejecting her request.
“There are quite a number of students who have similar technical problem [sic] as you do (no one cannot guarantee there is no network problem). I am afraid we could not provide any special arrangement for any individual for this reason,” the lecturer said.