Students at American University Sharjah have been on a rollercoaster after rules to prevent plagiarism in the upcoming exams were announced, which student’s vehemently disagreed with.

Students took to Twitter to revolt against the guidelines, which included 1) all students will need to purchase a web-cam 2) if connection drops during the exam, students automatically get a 0 3) there is no back-tracking in the exams and more.

The story was the number 1 trending story on English Twitter on Saturday night

People had difficulties with the system and used the tag #AUSharjahexams to vent frustrations and notify the university about their discontent

First experience with lockdown browser #AUSharjahexams pic.twitter.com/Wfjz4weyf0

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— Youssef Khaled (@YoussefKhaled70) April 4, 2020

One student states these exams are causing far more stress than COVID-19

The world is falling apart outside. People are losing their loved ones to an epidemic. Half of the earth’s population is under lockdown. And AUS still manages to be our greatest source of anxiety and stress.#AUSharjahExams

— Rashed (@rashed_rm1) April 4, 2020

Students with limited access to Wi-Fi had major cause for concern

https://twitter.com/thealgerianone/status/1246517962330292229?s=20

And the reality of sourcing a web-cam RN is pretty clear

https://twitter.com/3bdallaam/status/1246515629911400448?s=20

And amazingly: Voices. Were. Heard and another meeting will take place

The new exam measures have not been announced yet, however, the Dean of Engineering at the university took to Twitter to acknowledge that the issues raised by students have been registered and the University will sit down to re-look at the measures. The Dean has been commended by students for her extra efforts during this stressful time.

It’s worth noting any decision made going forward is in the best interest of both public health and the student’s safety.

“Your points are well taken and we take everything you say to heart”

Pleased to hear student voices are heard #AUSharjahExams pic.twitter.com/CkPXK5LibT

— خالد (@KhalidAlQ) April 4, 2020

And the internet is praising the team’s honesty

There were too many messages to individually answer, so this video gave reassurance to student’s last night and a meeting early on Sunday morning will discuss new alternatives.

Great to see the University take on board student issues immediately, and look to offer a solution.

https://twitter.com/Khaled_kdr/status/1246572692029026304?s=20

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