Maharashtra indicates final-year university exams will be held, mulls over making it optional

MUMBAI: Final-year university exams should be conducted, while ensuring it does not lead to the spread of coronavirus among students, said Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday. He directed the higher and technical education department to explore all possibilities for conducting the examinations. Legal opinion will also be explored to see it could be made optional for students.
Thackeray and higher education minister Uday Samant along with government officials had an online meeting with the vice-chancellors of state universities to discuss the conduct of final-year exams and the schedule for the next academic session.
The CM said that it is not possible to conduct the exams in July. “Now the issue of ending the uncertainty about the exams will have to be dealt with as a matter of priority. Planning will have to be done to allay the fears in the minds of students and parents,” he said.
The state government is mulling over the decision to make exams optional. It will mean that students can either opt for the average of their marks/grades in previous semesters or they can appear for the final exams at a later date for employment or higher education. The chief minister, however, directed the department to seek legal opinion on giving the ‘optional facility’ and also to come up with modalities of its actual implementation.
He said that the Covid-19 situation is changing, citing examples of Kerala and Goa which witnessed a second wave after the lockdown was relaxed. “The situation in Mumbai, Pune and Aurangabad is also constantly changing. But there should not be an uncertainty over the exams. Exams should be held by taking all measures. Officials should work-out on new technology or methods which could be applied for conducting exams,” said Thackeray. He advised officials to consider the changing situation as an opportunity to improve the education system.
The students’ community in Maharashtra were confused regarding the conduct of final year/semester examinations. In a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC), higher and technical education minister Uday Samant sought permission to cancel exams citing the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the state. It raised a storm in academic circles with even chancellor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking chief minister to issue suitable instructions to the minister as not conducting final year exams would be in violation of UGC guidelines and provisions of the ‘Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016’.