Pune: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has said that 454 universities out of total 640 are ready to conduct examinations for final year students and have already started planning for it.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Development (HRD) had announced on July 6 that the final year examinations in universities and colleges will be conducted by September end either in offline, online or blended (combination of offline or online) mode. Those students who are unable to attend these examinations will be given another chance to appear for special examinations which will be conducted by universities whenever feasible. The UGC in its revised guidelines has said that, students of terminal semester or final year students having a backlog should compulsory be evaluated by offline or online examinations as per feasibility and suitability and this provision shall be applicable only for the current academic session 2019-20 as a one-time measure.
Maharashtra’s Minister for Technical and Higher Education Uday Samant is still firm on his decision that final year examinations will not be held in the state. This has created confusion in the minds of students. The state government earlier had to retract their decision of cancelling examinations as Governor Bhagatsinh Koshyari had objected to the decision. Koshyari had made it clear then, that cancellation of examinations would jeopardize the future of students and any decision regarding holding of the examinations of final year students ‘shall be taken in consonance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act’.
Out of 640 universities in the country, 454 universities have started planning for conducting examinations for final year students. Out of these, 182 universities are such in which students have appeared for exams for some subjects before the Covid-19 outbreak started. Hence, the universities are preparing to conduct exams for the remaining subject. Apart from these, 38 universities have expressed their willingness to conduct entire examinations but are waiting for further clarity and instructions from the UGC.
Most of the universities in the country are ready to conduct final year examinations. About 177 universities are yet undecided on this issue. The COVID-19 outbreak situation at local level and state government’s stand on the issue are two factors on which the university management is stuck. About 27 private universities were started in 2019-20 and hence there are no students appearing for final year examinations.
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