UGC Guidelines Released for Semester Exams Highlights: Final Year Exams Made Compulsory, to be held by Sept-end

Check-out the complete highlights of the UGC's Revised Guidelines for Semester Exams 2020 Here.

The UGC has revisited its earlier guidelines related to university examinations.
In view of the safety, career progression and placements of the students and their larger interests, after consulting @HMOIndia and @MoHFW_INDIA, it has been decided that pic.twitter.com/evKTYPwnIa

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 6, 2020

In the latest or revised guidelines issued by the Univerity Grants Commission, the provisional announced for intermediate semester students i.e. students who are not in their final semester has bene kept unchanged. 

The UGC guidelines released today also confirmed that universities and higher education institutions will have to make the arrangements to hold special exams for students who miss out to appear in the current exams that will be held before September 2020. Universities will have the right to decide when and how these special exams will be held for pending students. However, this provision will be applicable only for the current academic session of 2019-20, as a one-time measure.

In addition to the regular students, UGC has also directed all the students who currently have backlog in their final year to mandatorily apppear for the exams in online / offline or blended form, as per feasibility and suitability. 

The revised guidelines also provide for the exams to be held in either online or offline mode, which ever mode is feasible for students to appear in. The exam for terminal semester students is to be held latest by September 2020 end.

As per the UGC Guidelines released today, the final year exams or university and college exams for final year students have been made mandatory for this year. The guidelines follows MHA letter which permits holding the pending university and college exams mandatorily despite the worsening situation of COVID-19 and increasing number of Coronavirus pandemic.

Ministry of Home Affairs today permits conduct of examinations by Universities and Institutions: https://t.co/Dz0Bg3O4mo@AmitShah @HMOIndia @PIBHomeAffairs @HRDMinistry @DG_NTA @DrRPNishank @PIB_India

— MIB India ???? #StayHome #StaySafe (@MIB_India) July 6, 2020

The latest in terms of pending semester exams for university and college students, AAP MP Sanjay Singh has sent a written request to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ for cancellation of DU OBT Exam or Open Book Test. As per the latest announcement by Delhi University, the semester examination are to be held from 10^th July 2020 for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

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As per sources close to the government authorities, the HRD Ministry and UGC officials are favouring a unified matrix that will be followed for the promotion of all college and university students across the country because of the cancellation of the semester examination this year. However, as there are variety of streams, subjects and other diverse aspects that needs to be kept in mind before taking such decision that may lead to further complications, the commission has not completely ruled out holding the exams for Final Semester or Final Year Students.

TN Gov’t forms panel for feasibility study for Semester Exam 2020: Tamil Nadu state Government has formed an 11 member panel to look into the matter of holding the pending semester and final year exams for the university and college students. The panel is headed by Principal Secretary of the higher education department and is expected to submit its report to government soon.

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Many major universities and higher education institutions across the country have already announced remedial measures with regards to the semester exams 2020 which are currently pending for their students. In line with this, Calcutta University has announced that it would not be holding semester exams but instead would be internal assessment and previous semester marks as tools to promote students to the next grade without holding exams.

Media reports indicate that students from West Bengal state have reached out to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking clarity about the semester exams and if they are to be held in the future. Earlier, West Bengal Government announced that all college and university level exams in the state have been cancelled for interim semester students but didn’t announce any specific evaluation method that was to be followed. Students, have reached out to West Bengal CM seeking more clarity on this topic.

With Rajasthan and Punjab State Government’s announcing cancellation of university and college exams in the state, a total of seven states have now officially announced cancellation of semester of final year exams for college and university students. These include Maharashtra – one of the worst affected cases of COVID-19, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan and now Punjab.

With Kerala Government imposing a triple lockdown within the municipal corporation limits of Thiruvananthapuram, the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala has decided to postpone the semester or college and university exams for students from the Thiruvananthapuram district. The triple lockdown was announced by Kerala Government on Sunday following a significant spike in the COVID-19 cases in the city.

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With the suspense around UGC guidelines failing to end soon, Rajasthan government took matters into its own hands on Saturday, announcing cancellation of all pending exams at universities, colleges and technical institutions for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The decision was announced by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

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— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 4, 2020

Over the weekend, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced that his government has decided to cancel all the pending university and college level exams for undergraduate and postgraduate level students in the state. The decision was taken by the government after evaluating all the parameters, including logistical feasibility of holding the exams and the risk it poses to the students. However, the state government has allowed universities to hold online exams, which are currently underway without any interruption.

Chief Minister @capt_amarinder Singh has announced cancellation of university and college examinations in the state in view of the #CovidPandemic, though the exams that are currently being conducted online by some universities will continue uninterrupted. #PunjabFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/YbPXmG1lG8

— Government of Punjab (@PunjabGovtIndia) July 4, 2020