The Telangana High Court on Thursday sought to know from State government if it was feasible for it to hold exams of final year post-graduate and under-graduate courses online.
Hearing two PIL pleas on conducting online exams for final year UG and PG students, the HC directed Advocate General B.S. Prasad to secure stand of the government on the matter. Responding to queries raised by a bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, the AG said that students have to write essay-type answers in annual examinations of UG and PG courses.
Since questions would be mostly of objective type in entrance tests, they could be conducted online. In case of questions requiring essay-type answers, conducting online exams would not be possible, he informed the bench. He said that government would take opinion of State Council of Higher Education on the matter and would inform of its decision on the matter to the court.
Counsel for one of the petitioners C. Damoder Reddy told the court that several students had gone to their villages in the districts. Even private and government hostels were shut. In this backdrop, it would be a struggle for the students to come to Hyderabad from their remote places and physically write exams, the lawyer said.
When UG and PG annual exams were deferred during initial stages of COVID-19, there were around 12,000 Coronavirus positive cases in the State. Presently, the figure reached 1.5 lakh. In such situation, online exams would be a better option in the interest of all sections, he argued.
The AG said the government was prepared to conduct exams physically in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. However, the bench said a student coming from Adilabad district would find it difficult to stay in Hyderabad for a week to write the exams.
With COVID-19 cases going up, the students would risk their lives even if they stayed in hotels, the bench said. The petitions were posted for Sept. 14.