New Delhi: “When Parliament is suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic, why are students being forced to appear in exams?” asked Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) president Neeraj Kundan.
On Tuesday, July 21, the NSUI staged a protest outside the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) against the guidelines issued by University Grants Commission (UGC) requiring universities to conduct final year exams by September.
The protest was led by NSUI national president Neeraj Kundan, office bearers and volunteers. The protest was however controlled as the police took charge and detained the protesters. They were later taken to Mandir Marg police station, only to be released later in the afternoon.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has crossed 10 lakh in the country. Pointing this, Kundan alleged “the government is not worried about the safety of students,” as per media reports. “The students’ parents are also worried about them as there is no clear sign of relief seen from the government’s side,” he further questioned.
UGC had on April 29 brought out advisory guidelines on conducting the examinations of final year or final semester students which the ministry had asked the UGC panel to review on June 25.
The examinations were scheduled to be held in July. However, according to the revised UGC guidelines, “The final year examinations will be conducted by the universities or institutions by the end of September in offline, online or blended mode.”