Students unhappy with UGC’s new guidelines, demand cancellation of term-end exam

UGC Guidelines for University Exams 2020: This has been announced when several states including Maharashtra have announced that they will not be holding the final year exams. Now, these guidelines by UGC have created further confusion in the minds of students.

By: Education Desk
New Delhi | Updated: July 8, 2020 12:01 AM IST

4 min read

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After several states have cancelled exams, now UGC asks to hold ter-end exams in September (Representational image)

UGC Guidelines: The much-awaited University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines were released yesterday. As per the revised guidelines, UGC has asked all the colleges and universities to conduct the final year or semester exams by September-end. The colleges have also been asked to “compulsorily be evaluated” backlog papers “by conducting examinations”. The colleges, however, have the freedom of choosing the mode of exam — online, offline, and/or hybrid.

The new guidelines further suggest holding special exams for students “in case a student of terminal semester or final year is unable to appear in the examination”. These special exams can be held whenever the situation will be conducive. This comes after several universities had already announced the cancellation of exams. Now, these guidelines by UGC have created further confusion in the minds of students.

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Students have taken to social media platforms to flag their concerns. #UGCGuidelines #UGCcancelexams #Exams2020 have been trending on the social media platforms since last night.
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The guidelines were issued after discussions of the expert committee. The committee was asked to revisit the guidelines for exams and academic calendar by the Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhroyal Nishank. This was done to have uniform rules across varsities as the number of COVID cases are still rising and likely to increase further.

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Explaining its rationale behind the revised guidelines, the UGC said in an official statement, “In view of the emerging situation related to COVID-l9 pandemic in India, it is important to safeguard the principles of health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students. At the same time, it is very crucial to ensure academic credibility, career opportunities, and future progress of students globally. Academic evaluation of students is a very important milestone in any education system.”

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