New Delhi: The Delhi government has decided to cancel all forthcoming semester and finals exams of universities under it due to the COVID-19 situation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday.
Sisodia said these state universities have been asked to promote their students and award them degrees adopting some methodology of evaluation.
He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to replicate Delhi government's decision for all central universities across the country to end uncertainty among students regarding the exams.
Sisodia said Delhi government's decision did not concern the Delhi University (DU), the JNU and other central universities in the national capital.
The state universities under Delhi government include National Law University, Delhi Technological University, Ambedkar University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Netaji Subhas University of Technology and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.
The deputy chief minister who is also Delhi's Education minister said studies in the universities were disrupted due to the pandemic, and it was not possible to conduct examinations. Unprecedented times require unprecedented decisions, Sisodia said.
"The issue was complex since no studies or any other academic activities took place in the semester. It was not possible to hold exams without any studies. So we have asked universities to cancel exams and promote students to next semester on the basis of past results or some other progressive method of evaluation," he said.
Sisodia said even though it was not possible to conduct final year examinations, providing degrees to students for jobs and future academic pursuits was necessary.
"We have asked the universities to cancel final year exams and come out with some formula of evaluation for awarding degrees," he said.
Sisodia also hoped that the prime minister will take cognizance of the chief minister's request to cancel exams of all central universities across the country and soon issue some direction.
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention in cancelling final year exams of Delhi University and other Central universities in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Kejriwal said "unprecedented decisions" need to be taken during the prevalence of a pandemic such as COVID-19.
"For the sake of our youth, I urge Hon'ble PM to personally intervene and cancel final year exams of DU and other central government universities and save the future," Kejriwal tweeted while sharing his letter to Modi.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said it was not in a position to conduct college examinations for the final year/semester students in September 2020, as several educational institutions have been converted into COVID-19 care centres.
Such a move in the backdrop of the spread of coronavirus will jeopardise the future of students facing their final year/semester exams, CM K Palaniswami said and requested the central govt to grant "freedom to states to work out their own assessment methods."
In a letter to Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, he said the July 6 2020 guidelines (of the UGC) mandated that all educational institutions across the country conduct exams by September 2020 for the final semester students.
The guidelines have many constraints and difficulties, which include that of students reaching the examination centres as many of them reside outside the district or state and some even outside the country.
It was also not feasible to conduct online examinations, considering the various issues relating to digital access to the students, he said.
"Moreover, most of the government and private Arts & Science and Engineering colleges, polytechnics and other institutions of higher learning (including the hostels, classrooms etc.,) in the state have been converted as COVID-19 Care Centres for housing asymptomatic positive persons under quarantine and these centres may continue as COVID centres for some more time," Palaniswami said.
"Therefore, if we are not in a position to conduct examinations even after waiting till September 2020, it would jeopardise the future of the students who are in their final year/ semester," the Chief Minister said.
Moreover, it will also unnecessarily affect the future of students recruited through campus selection and those who have applied for courses abroad, who may have to join in October 2020 after the ban on international travel is lifted, he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media here.
The Chief Minister pointed out that many states have decided not to conduct final semester examinations.
"In order to ensure career opportunities,future prospects and to simultaneously safeguard the principles of health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students, states may be given freedom to work out their own assessment methods without compromising on the quality and academic credibility,"he said.
Hence,he sought a direction to apex authorities like UGC, AICTE, Council of Architecture, Pharmacy Council of India, National Council of Teachers Education and National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology to endorse the decisions of the state governments, which would be based on the local prevailing COVID-19 conditions.
This would go a long way in rendering justice and fairness to parents and students during these distressful times,he said and pointed out that UGC guidelines on April 29, 2020 gave universities and colleges the flexibility to conduct exams without any restrictions on the guidelines or directions issued by the appropriate Government/ Competent Authority.
Stating that his government has been taking all measures required to contain spread of the virus and provide comprehensive treatment to the infected people, the Chief Minister said the efforts have borne good results.
He said any minor let up may still pose a challenge and added that the government's progressive policies had seen Tamil Nadu have the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio of 49 per cent among states, resulting in a large number of students studying in various universities, colleges and polytechnics.
"Though we had scheduled their semester examinations in April 2020, these examinations could not be conducted as scheduled because of COVID-19 pandemic,"he said.
