schedule will be finalised later
MUMBAI: Final-year exams will be conducted across state universities, however, the dates will be finalised later. After several days of deliberations, the state government has finally decided to hold the final-year exams. An official from the higher education department said that it may be held around September or October 2020, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and higher and technical education minister Uday Samant had an online meeting with all vice-chancellors to discuss the issues about final-year examinations and the the schedule for next academic session.
It has been decided that the examination will be conducted, however, about few other issues, the department will seek legal opinion. “It was also discussed whether students should be given an option to choose to give exam or is okay with the grade given based on the earlier semesters’ performance. But the state will wait for legal opinion,” said an officail. The students’ community in Maharashtra were confused regarding the conduct of final year/semester examinations.
In a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC), higher and technical education minister Uday Samant demanded permission to do away with these exams citing the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the state. It raised a storm in academic circles with even chancellor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to issue suitable instructions to the minister as not conducting final year exams would be in violation of UGC guidelines and ‘Maharashtra Public Universities Act’s 2016’ provisions.
