On July 6, Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank' released the University Grants Commission, or UGC, revised guidelines on exams and academic calendar for Universities. The guidelines recommend holding final-year or end-semester university and college exams by September.
The revised Guidelines were accepted by the UGC in an emergent meeting of the commission on Monday, July 6.
The revised UGC guidelines say that it is important to ensure health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students but at the same time, it is crucial to safeguard future of the students.
“Academic evaluation of students is very important milestone in any education system,” the guidelines said.
Students, however, do not seem to agree as they have started protesting against the idea of conducting final year exams. From conduct of examinations to health and safety of students, here is the summary of revised UGC guidelines:
The guidelines suggest conducting final year university exams by September-end. The exams can be conducted online, offline (pen-and-paper), or in blended (online and offline) mode.
Final-year students with "backlog", that is papers they have been unable to pass, will be "compulsorily" evaluated through online or offline or blended-mode exams, whichever suits the university.
In case a terminal-semester or final-year student remains unable to appear in the exam in September, he or she may be given the opportunity to appear in a special examination when feasible, according to the UGC guidelines. For intermediate semester students, the guidelines remain the same as the April guidelines.
States like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and Rajasthan have already cancelled all higher education exams without waiting for the UGC guidelines. Individual institutes, including Lucknow University, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Jadavpur University and IIT Bombay have taken a similar stand.
Students and teachers have started protesting against holding exams in September. Centre's decision to hold final semester exams is taking a "narrow-minded view" and "will endanger student's health", the National Students Union of India, or NSUI, said. “The...mental and physical well-being of lakh of students has been compromised,” Delhi University Teachers Association, or DUTA, said in a statement. Students took it to social media and started the #StudentsLivesMatter to protest against the decision to hold university exams.
