The University Grants Commission on Thursday in their letter to all the Vice-Chancellors of Maharashtra requested to defer offline exams in May to avoid physical gatherings at campuses.
Citing the surge the country is seeing in the second wave UGC wrote a letter to all the Vice-Chancellors and Principals of all Colleges in the letter said “Keeping in view the current scenario of COVID-19, it is requested that Higher Education Institutions may keep the offline examinations in abeyance during May 2021 to avoid physical gathering at the campuses and also to provide much-needed relief to the students, faculty, and staff who are presently occupied in fighting COVID 19 in one way or otherâ€.
“As we are all aware the second wave of COVID-19 is being faced in several parts of the country. During such times ensuring safety and health of everyone is most important Institutions across the country have already been taking best possible measures in this direction†the letter reads
“However, for conduct of online examinations, HEls may decide suitably after assessing local conditions and ensuring that they are prepared in all respects following advisones/guidelines/directions issued by the Central State Government, Ministry of Education, or UGC from time to time to prevent spread of COVID-19 and for the safety and health of all stakeholdersâ€.
The situation may be relooked by the HEls during next month for taking appropriate decision in this regard.
Earlier, the Education Ministry had directed all centrally-funded institutions not to conduct offline exams in May. While UGC’s advisory is for all the universities including state-run and private universities. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, many state and central universities have already postponed offline exams for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
