Students who will appear for university, degree college and higher education examinations in July should be prepared, as their exams might be fast-tracked, teachers of the University of Mumbai (MU) have informed. Exams may be conducted in a shorter time-frame, without holidays between two papers, they said.
Due to the lockdown on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had recently stated that all pending university semester and intermediate exams would be conducted from July 1 to August and all results would be declared by August 14, 2020. Uday Samant, higher and technical education minister of Maharashtra, said, "Exams will be conducted in July, followed by result declaration. We aim to begin the new academic year from September 1, 2020, for new students."
The examination process might be expedited, as all universities and colleges will focus on clearing the backlog. Yashika Tambe, a degree college teacher, said, "We shut our academic session midway in March. Once the lockdown is lifted, we will focus on conducting exams and completing the process as soon as possible."
Vikram Khanna, an MU teacher said, "Exams might be conducted in fewer days than usual. There might be no holiday breaks between two papers because we have to finish exams on priority."
Students should not take the lockdown lightly but instead, use this time to study and prepare. Deepika Bhatkam, a PhD student, said, "We generally have a tendency to prepare for exams at the eleventh hour. But we should use this lockdown time to study and prepare."
Dominic Vaz, an engineering student, said, "We never know, as the state might give us short notice before declaring the exam dates. Some of us struggle at the last minute to get photocopies of notes or even buy books. We are in a lockdown situation, with photocopying centres shut, so we should be prepared in advance for any direction."
With the state government declaring shops selling non-essentials could be open in non-containment areas, the problem of photocopying should be resolved, to an extent.
The state education ministry too has directed students to study and use time wisely during lockdown. A senior official said, "Students should use this free time to study, rather than complain later."
