Mumbai: Parents urge varsity to postpone exams

Thousands of students will be appearing for their university exams amid the coronavirus scare. (File)

After University of Mumbai on Sunday issued a circular announcing that the examinations in its affiliated colleges, departments will go on as per prescribed schedule, several students and parents took to social media platforms urging the government to postpone exams. Final year exams for varsity affiliated colleges for Bachelors of Arts have been scheduled for March 19, Commerce Exams for March 23 and Science exams from April. End semester exams for first year and second year graduate students at many colleges are also scheduled this week.

“Thousands of students will be appearing for their university exams. Most of them will be travelling through public transport, that is used by a large number of people. The exam centres will see mass gathering of students, teachers, staff, and thus put everyone’s lives at risk,” said a parent.

While on one hand, the government has advised the citizens to avoid public areas and mass gatherings, to limit the spread of the highly contagious virus, asking students to appear for exams goes against this as there is likely to be 100% attendance for exams thus leading to huge gatherings for at least 2-3 hours at once, said another parent.

“Students have been advised to wear masks and carry sanitizers, but the availablity of such materials is very scarce, and steadily depleting. Thus most students don’t even have access to these. Even some students who do have masks, are not guaranteed 100% protection. The examination halls are going to be occupied by 100s of students, in batches, thus that many people will come in contact with the furniture and the infrastructure of the exam centers,” said a parent.

“The most important problem being, students travel from far away places and most of them use public transport like local trains and buses, where the chances of transmission are very high due to a large number of people travelling in close proximity. Any student could be easily infected and thus spread the virus to many others,” the parent added.

When contacted Mumbai University pro-vice chancellor Dr Ravindra Kulkarni said that the directives have come from the state health department and subsequently from directorate of higher education. A discussion among authorities in response to the appeals by parents is likely to be held.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Principals Association has urged the government to take immediate stand on granting of leave to teachers and academic staff. “Principals are confused about the stand they need to take. Not all colleges and schools are exam centers. As per board norms, one cannot take assessment of papers outside school. The authorities need to take a decision on this,” said secretary Prashant Redij.