New Delhi: Odisha has joined Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi to announce reservations against conducting final year examinations in universities in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Meanwhile, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has once again asserted that it is mandatory to follow the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to ensure future career opportunities for the students.
Last week, the UGC, in its revised guidelines, directed the higher education institutions to conduct the final year examinations in September 2020, instead of July 2020.
“The guidelines have not stated that the exams have to be conducted right away, the exams have to be concluded by September end. States can devise a calendar whenever it is feasible to conduct exams in this timeline. Also, the exams can be conducted either online, offline, or in blended mode. Totally doing away with exams is not a feasible situation. The UGC guidelines are binding in nature,” media reports quote a senior HRD Ministry official as saying.
“Academic evaluation of students is a very important milestone in any education system. The performance in examinations gives confidence and satisfaction to the students and is a reflection of competence, performance and credibility that is necessary for global acceptability,” he is reported to have added.