In the wake of novel coronavirus spread, a UGC panel has recommended the government to cancel examinations for final year students in universities and institutes of higher education across India and to evaluate them on the basis of previous semester examinations and internal assessments instead.
The panel has been formed by the higher education regulator to suggest alternative ways of addressing university students amid the pandemic which has caused massive disruptions in schools and colleges.
The panel, headed by Haryana University vice-chancellor RC Kuhad, has said that as per the revised academic calendar final semester exams are due in July in most universities however, it can be held due to the high risk of exposure to lakhs of students.
Therefore, the panel has called for the cancellation of the examinations and has asked the universities to mark for the final examination on the basis on the past performance of each student.
It has also been added by the panel that the students, who are not happy with the final marks being given to them based on previous examinations, can be given a chance to improvise their scores by taking examination later when the pandemic recedes.
According to the higher officials of the HRD Ministry, UGC is expected to release new comprehensive guidelines for higher education institutes later this week.
The recommendations are meant to guide over 40 central universities and hundreds of state, private, and deemed to be universities and colleges.
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The UGC panel has also recommended to commence the new session planned in July for old students and in August for fresh batches should be deferred to October.
The recommendations came at a time when technical institutions such as Indian Institutes of Technology are mulling to start the new session only through online mode in the wake of the pandemic.
IITs, sources said, have asked the HRD ministry to permit Ph.D. students to go to the campuses while the B Tech and M Tech students are asked to stick to the online mode of learning.