Maharashtra varsities asked to submit final year exam plan by September 7

State Minister for Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant told this to reporters.

He said that while the universities were free to chalk out their own schedule of conducting exams, they have to announce the results by October 31.

"The state has asked the universities to submit by September 7 their detailed plan of conducting examinations. This would enable the government to hold a meeting with the disaster management committee to decide on the steps needed to be taken against coronavirus spread during the exam," he said.

Considering the number of Covid-19 cases in the state, the government had sought cancellation of the final year exams.

The ruling Shiv Sena's youth wing Yuva Sena had moved the supreme court seeking cancellation of the final year exams of universities across states in view of the Covid-19 crisis.

However, the Supreme Court had last week upheld the UGC guidelines and said that no state and university can promote students in the final year/terminal semester without conducting examinations.

"The students who are going abroad for higher studies will be getting provisional certificate from their respective colleges and institutes. Several colleges abroad have shown willingness to accept such provisional certificate as a document for confirming the admission," Samant said.

Students are allowed to secure admission in a foreign institute of their choice first and submit their final year results later, he added.

"We have already given such provisional certificates of their performance to few students so far and their respective institutes abroad have held it valid for confirmation of admission," he said.

"Most of the exams would be held either in the form of appearing from home or open-book format. The universities will decide as per their local situation on which option to select for conducting the exams," he said.

"The practical or viva should commence from September 15 and should get over by September 30," the minister added.

"Even the schedule of backlog papers will be part of the final years student's schedule and their results will be out along with final results," Samant said.