SC to resume hearing on pleas opposing final year exams today. File UGC Exam Guidelines 2020: The Supreme Court has today resumed hearing plea challenging the July 6 circular issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) mandating to conduct the final year exams by the end of September. With rising cases of COVID 19 in India, the students in their plea said that it is against their right to life.
Last week, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented students’ plea highlighted, “Exams have to be held after teaching… teaching has been disrupted and exams will be held now?” Issue of commute to be undertaken by students, the new sessions being started without holding final year exams among other concerns were raised in front of the court.
The UGC, however, has maintained a stance that exams are critical for final year students. Several states including Delhi and Maharashtra had earlier cancelled the exams for students in the respective states. UGC in an affidavit had said, that this “encroaches on the legislative field of coordinating and determining the standards of higher education that is exclusively reserved for Parliament…”,
As reported by Indian Express earlier, the UGC in its response to the Mumbai government said “…those alleged circumstances should then prevent even the commencement of the next academic session. That apart, the State Govt. avers that the next academic session must begin in the interest of students… Such contentions by the State Govt. are clearly therefore meritless.”
The UGC also offers students a chance to appear for the exams later in case they are unable to do so in September. Out of the 755 universities across India, 366 are planning to hold exams in August or September, as per the revised guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which ask the varsities to hold exams “mandatorily” by September