Amid the massive rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Maharashtra, Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant on Thursday said that all the remaining exams of all universities in the state will be held online. He said that a meeting was held with the Vice-Chancellors regarding the examinations today.
Samant said that offline examinations will not be held in all thirteen non-agricultural universities in the state. "No student will be deprived of the exam. The Third Year (TY) exams will also be held online," he added.
Moreover, Samant said that he will personally look into vaccinating all the university students about the age of 18. This was after Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray's instruction, he added.
On Tuesday, the Class 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board examinations were cancelled. The decision was taken bearing in mind the safety of students in the light of the COVID-19 surge in the state. "Given the worsening Covid-19 situation, the Maharashtra government has decided to cancel the state board exams for Class 10. The health and safety of students and teachers is our topmost priority," School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad announced.
Gaikwad said, “We are discussing the method of internal assessment to clear the students of SSC board exams. We have been discussing alternative methods with other private and international boards. The criterion on the basis of which results will be declared for Class 10 will be announced soon. The state school education department is committed to devising a fair and accurate assessment criterion.”
The Minister added that Class 12 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board exams were not cancelled. She said, “As far as the state board exams of Class 12 (HSC) are concerned, we have already conveyed our decision to postpone the exams till May-end. The status remains the same. We are closely monitoring the health and safety situation in the state."
