MPs have unanimously approved an urgent proposal to ask Bahrain University to stop making students download a software application for online tests.
The proposal follows 487 complaints from university students to MPs with the issue trending on social media and attracting more than 11,700 mentions in recent days.
The MPs behind the proposal claim that the browser, which the university says is secure and helps prevent cheating, has resulted in computers and laptops being damaged and needing costly repairs.
"The system is unsafe and students are obliged to use it here,” claimed Parliament public utilities and environment affairs committee chairman MP Mohammed Buhamood, who added that it was merely an option in other countries.
Respondus Monitor is an automated proctoring service for the Respondus LockDown Browser that uses students’ webcams to record them online and automatically detects behaviour that could indicate cheating.
Parliament financial and economic affairs committee chairman MP Mahmood Al Bahrani said: "The system is unsecure and unsafe, while also invading privacy, and the university has to stop and reschedule exams for those who were unable to sit them because of issues over this browser.
"Alternatives have to be explored."
Connectivity issues can cause the browser to freeze while students take their examinations, according to reports. If it occurs, students are told to restart their computer by powering it off, then powering it back on, before navigating back.
If it continues to crash it is possible that the installation has become corrupted and the company’s technical support says when it appears to ‘freeze’ it is commonly due to a dialog box from other applications running in the background appearing underneath the secure layer, or there are corrupted web links which are blocked.
Bahrain University was unavailable to comment.
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