New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear the plea of 31 students challenging the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) decision to conduct final year exams mandatorily by September-end on Monday.
The UGC has made final semester exams in universities and colleges to be held compulsorily. It has asked the universities to conduct the exams in offline mode using pen and paper; online mode or else by opting for a blended model — both online and offline mode.
The students, in their petition, have said that the examinations should be cancelled and results of such students should be calculated on the basis of their internal assessment or past performance.
However, according to an NDTV report, the UGC said, out of the 818 universities, 603 have either conducted the examination or are planning to conduct. While 209 others have already conducted examination (on-line/off-line), 394 are planning to conduct examination (on-line/off-line/blended mode) in August or September.
The exams for intermediate semesters, though, have been cancelled in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, a petition filed by final year law student Yash Dubey, also sought the cancellation of UGC mandated final year exams. Another student Krushna Waghmare has also filed a petition against UGC’s final year exam guidelines.
Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray has also moved the top court on behalf of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of ruling party Shiv Sena, against the mandated final year exams in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.