UGC recommends the government to scrap final year exams for University Students 

Due to outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and the restriction imposed by the government to constrain the spread of the virus, University Grant Commission panel has recommended the government to scrap the final year examination for the students in universities and institutes of higher education across the country and evaluating them based on the previous semester examinations and internal assessments instead.

UGC had formed the Committee headed by the Haryana University vice-chancellor R C Kuhad to suggest alternative ways of assessing university students in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused massive disruptions in the function of schools and colleges.

As per the official from HRD Ministry, the committee said that the final semester examinations of the universities and colleges due in July cannot be held due to the risk of exposure to lakhs of students and has therefore suggested that the examinations should be canceled and marks for the final examination should be awarded based on the past performance of each student.

The committee further said that those students who are not happy with the final marks being given to them based on previous examinations can be given a chance to improvise their scores by taking examinations later when the pandemic subsides.

The Committee also suggested the beginning of the new academic session in October.

Based on these recommendations UGC is expected to release comprehensive guidelines for 40 central universities and hundreds of state, private and deemed to be universities and colleges

The recommendations came at a time when technical institutions such as IITs are pondering to start the new academic session only through online mode in the wake of the pandemic.

IITs, sources said that they have requested the HRD Ministry to permit Ph.D. students to attend the classes at campuses while the B Tech and M Tech students should adhere to the online method of learning