Students go to court for exams with a webcam
The central student council of the University of Amsterdam is filing summary proceedings against the university for the use of surveillance software during online exams. The case could have consequences for the whole of higher education.
Image: Rechtspraak.nl
Privacy objections to online proctoring have been piling up since the start of the corona crisis. Youth organizations revolted and the House of Representatives also got involved. Two universities of applied sciences have already openly distanced themselves from the controversial method.
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) did not. More than two hundred online exams with the Proctorio surveillance program are planned there until the summer. This allows students to be filmed in their room via a webcam during the exam.
With the surveillance program Proctorio, students are filmed in their room via a webcam during the exam
The central student council is now going to court, writes university magazine Folia. According to the Council, students should be able to refuse the use of Proctorio during online exams – without incurring study delays.
According to the law on higher education, the central councils and faculty councils have the right to consent to the form of examinations. In April, the central student council issued a negative advice on the use of Proctorio, but the UvA board decided to use the software anyway. The council hopes that participation councils at other universities and colleges will also benefit from the summary proceedings.
Sensitive
The summary proceedings will be submitted to the court in Amsterdam on Thursday. It is difficult to predict whether the students will win the case, says Tilburg professor of education law Paul Zoontjens. “If the university can make it clear that it does not have the staff and facilities to administer exams in a different way, then a judge will be sensitive to that. But if students can demonstrate that other institutions do offer an alternative, that can weigh heavily.”
The question is whether the students are taking the right path. There is also a national committee for employee participation disputes, to which the council could have reported first. “If they haven't done that, it doesn't make their case stronger,” says Zoontjens.
Minister Van Engelshoven (D66) seems not very sensitive to the privacy objections of proctoring. Earlier this year, she said that employee representation should show adaptability during the corona crisis and be flexible "where necessary".
