UGC Issues Exam Guidelines, New Academic Calendar

New Delhi: Universities will reopen in August and the academic session for new students will commence from September, the Expert Committee of University Grants Commission (UGC) recommended on Wednesday.

Universities have been closed across the country since March amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Besides the academic calendar, the Commission has also issued guidelines on examinations.

These UGC guidelines in view of of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown were issued in presence of Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal in New Delhi on Wednesday.

GUIDELINES

1. Intermediate Semester Students: Will be graded based on internal assessment of the present and previous semester. In states where the COVID-19 situation has normalized, there will be exams in the month of July.

2. Terminal Semester Students: exams will be held in the month of July.

3. A COVID-19 cell will be constituted in every university which will be empowered to solve the issues of students related to academic calendar and examinations.

4. A COVID-19 cell in the UGC to be created for faster decision making.

The Commission, however, clarified that the guidelines are advisory in nature and universities may chalk out their own plan taking into consideration issues pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Academic Calendar for 2019-2020: