Hundreds of students of undergraduate and postgraduate odd semester courses wrote their papers enthusiastically amid COVID-19 threat as Mangalore University resumed the examinations on Monday.
The university had to postpone the examinations scheduled in April due to the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic. As the norms came to be relaxed following reduced numbers of positive cases, it decided to resume the examinations on Monday.
As many as 21,886 students appeared for Monday’s examinations out of the 23,179 students across Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu districts in the morning session. In the afternoon session, 16,691 students appeared for the examination out of the 17,193, according to sources.
The university has already announced that re-examination will be conducted for students who could not attend the exams starting Monday. Many students, particularly those from Kasargod district in neighbouring Kerala, were unable to attend the examination due to inter-State travel restrictions.
Special arrangement
The university has also asked colleges to make special arrangement for students who test positive for COVID-19. Two such students wrote the exams on Monday, according University Registrar (Evaluation) P.L. Dharma. He said that four students called him on Monday morning saying that they were not being allowed to cross the Talapady border. He told them not to worry and that they could write the exams later.
In the University College at Hampanakatte, 839 students wrote the exams on Monday. They included 157 undergraduate and 36 postgraduate students from Kerala.
Hostel stay
The district administration has told colleges to ask students from Kerala not to undertake daily travel to and from Kerala and make lodging arrangements in hostels for them, according to Mangaluru Tahsildar Guruprasad. Students from Kerala with admit cards were allowed to cross the Talapady border, he said. While some came by buses, got off them at the border and boarded other buses to Mangaluru after crossing the border, other students arrived in their own vehicles.
P. Dayananda Pai Satish Pai Memorial Government First Grade College principal Rajashekhar Hebbar said that the college had arranged tests for over 400 students on the college campus on Car Street on Monday.