Universities can hold 1st and 2nd year UG exams, says Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Lakhs of students in first and second year undergraduate courses may have to appear for examinations this year to get promoted to the next year as the Supreme Court on Thursday said the UGC has left it to the discretion of universities whether or not to conduct such exams, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra.
Hearing a plea filed by an undergraduate student of Ignou over the university’s decision to hold first and second year examinations during the pandemic, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah said that the court can’t start deciding whether examination is necessary or not. “It (Ignou’s decision) does not violate the UGC’s July 6 guidelines,” the bench said.
The bench had recently upheld UGC’s July 6 guidelines making it mandatory for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students to appear in examinations to be entitled to their degrees.