Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari has given permission to students to appear for the final year examinations online from home, state Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant said on Thursday.
He said the state government will request the University Grants Commission (UGC) to extend the existing deadline for conducting the examinations from September end to October end, and added that the toughness of the exams will also be reduced.
The Supreme Court had last week upheld the UGC guidelines and said that no state and university can promote students in the final year/terminal semester without conducting examinations. The court also ruled that the UGC’s directives to universities and colleges to hold final-year exams by September 30 were well within its domain.
“Governor B S Koshyari has given permission to the final year students to appear for exams online. They can give exams from their home,†Samant said.
“We are also planning to bring the results out by October 31 to save the students’ academic year,†he added.
Samant along with junior minister in the department Prajakt Tanpure had met Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan here on Wednesday to discuss the issue of conducting exams in light of the Supreme Court verdict.
The minister said he held a meeting with 13 vice chancellors of public universities on how to conduct the final year examinations as directed by the apex court.
“The practical exams could be held from September 15 onwards. We are also trying to hold these exams online instead of making the students visit colleges,†he said.