JOIN USCovid-19 Unlock: Govt sets ball rolling for conducting university exams
The government on Monday set the ball rolling for conducting examinations by universities and higher education institutions during Covid-19 'unlock' period even as it had directed that no educational centre will be opened till July 31.
The Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to the Higher Education Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) allowing holding of examinations.
An official spokesperson said the final term examinations are to be "compulsorily conducted" as per the Univesrity Grants Commission (UGC) Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities and by following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The MHA's nod came on a day the Delhi High Court directed the UGC and Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to clarify their stand as to whether they recommend cancellation of final year examinations in all the universities across the country due to Covid-19 situation.
The court said that the stand should be made clear by Tuesday and directed that responsible officials from the Ministry of HRD and University Grants Commission (UGC) should join the hearing.
There was uncertainty about conducting final examinations due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation. There were also suggestions that the final exams could be cancelled and the marks be tabulated according to the performance in previous examinations.
However, the UGC is learnt to have decided against scrapping the final exams during a meeting held on Monday.
Officials said universities and higher education institutes are likely to be advised to conduct the examinations by the end of September. Earlier, the UGC had directed universities to conduct the exams in the first half of July.
States like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal had earlier cancelled all examinations in higher education institutions.