Gauhati University students meet HC chief justice, seek intervention over final exams

GUWAHATI: A delegation of Gauhati University (GU) students met chief justice of Gauhati high court Ajay Lamba on Monday, asking him to review the university’s plans of conducting final semester exams in September despite rising coronavirus cases in Assam.
With around 75% GU’s students residing outside Guwahati, the student delegation, led by GU Post Graduate Students’ Union general secretary Moon Talukdar and assistant general secretary of North East Debaters Association Bishaldeep Kakati, requested Lamba to speak to the University Grants Commission so that the final semester students can be promoted on the basis of their marks in earlier examinations.
“For this session, the final year students must be promoted based on a combination of seminars, assignments and average marks of the previous semesters. Further, an opportunity must be given to the interested final year students to upgrade their marks later on as and when the pandemic ends,” a memorandum submitted by the students to the chief justice read. Saying that they are not against the examination process, the students wrote, “Even if the examinations are conducted, in respect of the state of Assam, the students should be allowed to attain a minimum number of classes before the examinations are conducted, otherwise it would be really difficult on their part to sit for the examination process.”
The student delegation said the latest UGC guidelines have notified universities to conduct the final semester examinations by September. However, as coronavirus cases keeping rising, they cautioned that it would be risky for the students to visit the institutions to appear for their examinations. “As the honourable health minister of the state has stated that the spike in the number of coronavirus cases would considerably increase in the month of August in Assam, therefore the offline mode of examinations in the month of September would be life threatening for the students,” the memorandum added. Sources in the state education department told TOI that the approval to the universities to conduct exams is likely to be given following a meeting of the task force constituted by the state government to monitor the academic scenario amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. “Conducting exams, especially offline, needs approval from the state government since it concerns the health of the students,” the source added.