Covid-19: As asked by UGC, Karnataka govt orders universities to conduct final year exams by September

A Committee recently suggested that final year exams should be conducted by September-end.

The Karnataka government on Friday asked all the universities coming under the purview of state higher education department to conduct final year exams by the end of September. It also said that the next academic session for the first and higher semester in the universities will be through online mode tentatively from September 1, 2020. And the offline (classroom) teaching will commence from October 1. However, the commencement of offline classes will be based on guidelines by the state government/MHA/UGC.

In a detailed notification, the state government said: “The Universities are required to complete the examinations for final year students by the end of September- in offline (pen and paper)/online/ blended (online+offline) mode following the prescribed protocols/guidelines related to Covid-19.” It also said that the final year students having backlog should compulsorily be evaluated by conducting examinations in offline/online/blended mode as per feasibility and suitability. These directions come just days after the UGC issued detailed guidelines and asked the states to conduct final year examinations.

Universities coming under the purview of Higher Education Department are required to complete the examinations for final year students by end of September 2020 in offline/online/blended (offline + online) mode following protocols related to COVID-19 pandemic: Karnataka government pic.twitter.com/2hk7oIoG60

— ANI (@ANI) July 10, 2020

On Thursday, UGC secretary Prof Rajnish Jain said that conducting final year examinations for graduation or post-graduation courses was very important and states should hold the exams as per fresh guidelines issued by the Commission. He also said that universities and colleges can opt to conduct exams through any of the three modes — online, offline or blended.

The Ministry of Human Resources had recently set up a committee to look into the possibility of conducting exams and make recommendations on academic calendar. The Committee suggested that final year exams should be conducted by September-end. While many universities have welcomed the move, the Maharashtra government has informed the Centre it can not conduct examinations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Maharashtra is worst-affected with over 2.3 lakh infection cases and 9667 deaths due to Covid-19.