I cannot even begin to describe to you how boring exam invigilation is. It’s second only to marking exam scripts, which is why lecturers and invigilating postgraduates often come up with ways to make the experience a little more interesting.

On Halloween, a group of invigilators monitoring the Sports Hall – the absolute worst place to write and invigilate an exam at the University of Cape Town – decided to cheer everyone up by getting into the spirit of the day and invigilating in costume.

Sounds like fun, right? Apparently not.

Here’s TimesLIVE:

Is the dressing up of exam invigilators for Halloween some light-hearted fun or an unwelcome distraction during an already stressful time?

@ukho98 tweeted: “This department that allowed this need to do better. We are in RSA and Halloween is not our culture nor a norm. Please do better next time.”

But opinion was divided‚ with @newnewnihaad asking: “You’re getting a lecturer into trouble for… Celebrating Halloween? What’s happening there by UCT.”

So while some students appreciated the break from the monotony of the exam period, others seemed to take things really personally. This retweet and response sum it up:

You’re getting a lecturer into trouble for… Celebrating Halloween? What’s happening there by UCT https://t.co/aHgVolk5lR

— nihaad (@newnewnihaad) November 1, 2018

The university has issued an apology, as have the invigilators.

I get that the exam period is stressful, but people really need to chill. Here’s an example of a Halloween costume in poor taste (and another one here), but kicking up a fuss about invigilators seems a little over the top.

[source:timeslive]