Within hours of announcing that the examinations of the final year students in various courses in the State-run universities would be conducted, the Gujarat government on Wednesday rolled back its decision saying all exams have now been postponed due to COVID-19.
Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told the media after the Cabinet meeting that the universities had announced and even fixed the dates for the exams but the government has decided to defer them as per the direction of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).
Majority of students want exams: Chudasama
According to Mr. Chudasama, the majority of the students are in favour of attending examinations as they want degrees for further studies or to secure jobs and therefore the State government had asked the universities to hold the exams.
He also quoted a social media poll recently conducted by the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) which said 54,000 students favoured holding of exams while only 900 had opposed it.
The GTU has announced the dates for the exams from July 2.
“After my announcement in the morning, the Union HR Ministry sent a communication to all States asking them to postpone all exams till further notice,” he said, adding that a new schedule will be announced later.
Congress welcomes decision, claims credit
The Opposition Congress welcomed the State government’s decision and claimed credit saying its move to launch a Statewide agitation brought the pressure on the government to postpone the exams.
“We have been pressing to defer the exam because it’s not advisable when the epidemic is still surging. We don’t want any student to contract the virus,” State party president Amit Chavda said in a statement.
He said maintaining social distancing and following other health protocols is not feasible with thousands of students participating in the exams.