Medical students oppose KUHS move to hold exams

A section of the medical students have opposed the Kerala University of Health Sciences’ (KUHS) move to hold practical exams for second year undergraduate students in the first and second weeks of July.

Functionaries of the students’ union of Government Medical College, Kozhikode, claimed on Sunday that students would have to travel from other States and between various districts to reach the exam centres. It would be dangerous for a large number of students to assemble at medical colleges at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases were steadily going up in the State and there was a need to practise physical distancing, they said. Security arrangements were minimal at many places.

Silent carriers

It was unclear how the students would be put up at medical colleges, most of which were functioning as COVID-19 hospitals. Students’ hostels were being used to quarantine health workers too, the union leaders said. They claimed that the students had left behind their books at hostels and retrieving them would be difficult in the current scenario.

Pointing out that there could be silent carriers of the virus among the community, the union leaders urged the university authorities to set up strict security arrangements at medical colleges to avoid transmission. Students and parents were concerned about unidentified patients spreading the infection. It would be unfair to ask the students who were under such mental stress to attend exams, they added.