Final Year university examinations may be postponed until the end of September, but must be conducted in either online or offline mode, the University Grants Commission (UGC) decided on Monday evening. Students who are unable to appear for these examinations will be given the opportunity to appear for special examinations which will be conducted later, according to an official statement.
The UGC had first released an indicative academic calendar for higher education institutions on April 29 in which it had prescribed that universities conduct their final-year or terminal semester examination from July 1 to July 15 and declare their results end of the month.
“For students who cannot appear for the final semester or final year exam, the universities will hold a special exam after September. And those who could not pass the exam will also be allowed to improve,” said an officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The UGC will soon issue revised guidelines to this effect.
Since the guidelines were based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Haryana Central University vice-chancellor RC Kuhad, the higher education regulator referred HRD Ministry’s request back to the panel for review. Monday’s decisions were also based on Kuhad committee’s suggestions.
UGC’s revised guidelines are likely to have an impact on examination schedules across the country, especially in states like Gujarat and Karnataka that were waiting for the regulator’s stand on the issue. However, it’s not clear whether states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh will now revisit their decision to cancel all exams in higher education.
