MHA Allows Colleges To Hold Final Year Exams During COVID-19 Unlock Period

NEW DELHI: Students in universities and colleges across India will have to take their final year examinations this year. Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday announced that the examinations should be conducted during the COVID-19 Unlock period. In a press statement issued late Monday evening, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “Ministry of Home Affairs, in a letter to the Union Higher Education Secretary, permitted conduct of examinations by universities and institutions.”

It further stated that "The final term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC guidelines on examinations and academic calendar and as per the standard operating procedure approved by the MoHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)."

A senior UGC official speaking to a website said that , "All the committee members voted in favor of performing exams. The MHA and MoHFW have now given the permission and the universities will be able to carry out examinations following all the social distancing protocols."

He asserted that, "The examinations can not be bypassed and the institutions must conduct final year examinations. It is up to them how they want to do it and when they can carry out the exams, but they will have to do the exams."

Some states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have already announced the cancellation of exams in colleges and universities in the view of coronavirus pandemic.

According to the UGC guidelines, "The final year examinations will be conducted by the universities or institutions by the end of September in offline, online or blended mode. The students having backlog will compulsorily be evaluated by conducting examinations in offline (pen and paper) online blended (online and offline) mode as per feasibility and suitability."

The guidelines stated that, "It is important to safeguard the principles of health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students. At the same time, it is very crucial to ensure academic credibility, career opportunities and future progress of students globally. Academic evaluation of students is very important milestone in any education system. The performance in examinations gives confidence and satisfaction to the students and is a reflection of competence, performance and credibility that is necessary for global acceptability."

It is said that "In case a student of terminal semester/final year is unable to appear in the examination conducted by the university for whatsoever the reason(s) may be, he or she may be given opportunity to appear in special examinations, which may be conducted by the university as and when feasible, so that the student is not put to any inconvenience or disadvantage."

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank tweeted, "The UGC has revisited its earlier guidelines related to university examinations. In view of the safety, career progression and placements of the students and their larger interests, after consulting."