Govt to hold exams only for final semester students, others will be passed without exams

Safeguarding the students' interest as well as academic career of lakhs of students during the time of Covid-19 pandemic, the state government on Friday decided to hold examinations only for the final semester students of undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) in various universities of Karnataka and promote other semester students to the next level without holding any examination. The significant move by the Higher Education department was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan who is also the minister for Higher Education.

The DCM announced that the examination for final semester UG and PG students will be conducted as per the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) by the end of September 2020. As per the latest decision, all students who are either at the beginning or middle semester of their UG and PG courses will be promoted to next semester without any examination. The state government further made it clear that the latest decision would only be applicable for this academic year--2019-20. The students will be promoted to the next semesters based on academic performances during the previous assessment.

Giving details of the decision, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan told media persons that the decision was taken in the interest of the students. "Keeping in mind the safety of students during Covid-19 pandemic times, the government has taken the decision. We have also discussed with education experts, former Vice Chancellors before arriving at this decision," he said. The DCM also revealed that Governor Vajubhai Vala who is the Chancellor of all the universities has also given his consent for the decision. Students can call up on the department helpline 080-22341394 for any academic queries.

How will students be promoted?

The students who are pursuing UG and PG courses at mid semester levels will be evaluated internally based on their academic performance along with the marks scored during the previous semester or year. "Based on this comprehensive evaluation, we will promote the students to next semester. But for the first semester students, they will be promoted entirely based on internal evaluation on academic performance," the Deputy Chief Minister explained. In case if the students wish to improve their marks further, they can take the exams separately later. This apart, students with backlog subjects have also been allowed to carry those subjects further into the next semester subject to only the present academic year.

Why exams for only the final semester?

The decision to hold exams only for the final semester was taken keeping in mind the employment and higher education possibilities in the future. "It is important to evaluate the academic performance of the students in Higher Education. Hence, we need to assess the academic performance and competence of every student who is in the final semester or year. Even the companies that offer jobs will look forward to such a quality talent pool and brighter academic performance. If we do not conduct exams, it may affect them in future. Hence we have directed all universities to make all the preparations to conduct examination for final semester students," Dr Ashwathnarayan said.