Final year exams at the 14 universities will now be optional. (Representative)
Mumbai:
The Maharashtra government has announced that it will not be doing final year exams at various state universities in the context of increasing cases of coronavirus.
The Department of Higher and Technical Education has announced that final year exams for non-professional and professional courses at the 14 universities will now be optional.
Those who do not want to take the exams will be graded on the basis of the average marks of the previous semester, but those who wish to take the exams will be allowed to do so.
In both cases, students must give written consent to the university concerned.
“If you want to change the marks or if you think the marks are not up to your expectations and you want to take the exams, the district collector who examines the COVID-19 situation can take the exam”, a declared Uday Samant, Minister of Higher Education. and technical education, Maharashtra
The decision will impact more than 10 lakh students in the state.
In Maharashtra, approximately 7.3 lakh students are enrolled in the final year of non-professional courses while approximately 2.8 lakh students are enrolled in professional courses such as engineering, hotel management, architecture, law, etc.
The exams were scheduled for July. However, the spiraling cases of the highly contagious disease have forced the government to drop the exams to avoid further spread.
Currently, 41 colleges and 198 hostels are used as quarantine centers in Maharashtra – the state most affected by coronavirus in the country, according to government resolution (GR).
For vocational courses, the government will write to the central councils to grant permission to cancel the exams. For late students, the decision will be made in the next few days after meeting with the vice-chancellors.
The BJP opposition described the decision as defective.
“From ATKT students to rank holders, this decision is nothing but deception and eye drops. We demand that the government make a decision that is acceptable and equal across the board,” said the minister. BJP chief, Ashish Shelar.
The government said the decision was made with the health of the students in mind. However, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is also the chancellor of all state universities, wanted the decision to be based on the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, again highlighting the conflict between the state government and the governor.
