Final-year exams have been pending since March because of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education.
UGC’s guidelines to hold the exams, which include the option to hold them online, have been challenged as arbitrary, as some of the universities lacked basic IT infrastructure and it would not be feasible to uniformly conduct online examinations. Also under objection is the Optional exams- If someone cannot appear and is given a later option to give exam, it will create chaos.
Declining to pass any final order on a clutch of petitions challenging the UGC’s decision to hold final-year exams in September, Supreme Court adjourned its hearing till August 10. However, students appearing for final-year exams in colleges and higher education institutions must not think the exams will be postponed again because of the ongoing Supreme Court hearing, the UGC said. Supreme Court has also asked the Maharashtra government, which has cancelled final-year exams for state-run colleges, to place on record the decision taken by the state’s disaster management committee. The court also asked the Home Ministry to make its stand clear; earlier this month the ministry said final-year exams could take place. The centre said it would reply by Monday (August 3) but stressed that all students should continue to prepare for their exams.