Moved by the concerns expressed by higher educational institutions over delay in exams and uncertainty over the upcoming academic calendar following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, University Grants Commission (UGC) has said that a committee of subject experts is working on their concerns.
“It is observed that in the present situation, our stakeholders have expressed their concern about the examinations and possible delay in the next academic calendar. Taking note of the genuine concerns of the students, teachers, parents and institutions, UGC has already constituted an Expert Committee to deliberate on the issues related to examination and academic calendar and submit its recommendations. The committee is expected to submit its report shortly,” said UGC secretary Rajnish Jain in a letter addressed to universities and colleges.
The UGC, after consultation with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), will issue appropriate guidelines based on which the universities/colleges may chalk out their plan of action to address the above issues and other related exigencies.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UGC has issued a number of guidelines/advisories to educational institutions, from time to time, in order to contain spread of the virus.
Some of the initiatives taken by UGC in this regard include precautionary and preventive measures to combat COVID-19, ICT enabled on-line learning, safety and care of hostel residents, mental health and well-being of stakeholders, immunity-boosting measures of Aayush for self-care, engagement of academic fraternity for implementing UGC Quality Mandate initiatives etc.
Now as the educational institutions continue to remain shut due to CCOVID-19, it has become necessary for UGC to come up with some guidelines for exams which could not be held due to lockdown, and new academic calendar which may suggest starting session from July 1 in view of the pandemic.
