In a recent announcement, State Higher and Technical Education Minister said, Maharashtra will not be conducting all final year university exams within the September 30 deadline as per UGC’s July 6 guidelines.
As per reports, a majority of universities in the state including the Mumbai University have agreed upon conducting exams from the first week of October. They will declare results by the end of the month.
Earlier, even Universities in Maharastra urged state government to seek postponement of final year exams till October. Reports claim a total of 7,62,962 students are expected to attend the final year exams across state universities.
Uday Samant, Maharashtra State Education Minister, tweeted, “The universities are trying to ensure that the final year exams can be given to the students from home. The exams will not be held until September 30. The Vice-Chancellor opined that the government should request the UGC to extend the term until October 2020.”
अंतिम वर्षाच्या परीक्षा विद्यार्थ्यांना घरातूनच देता येतील असाच प्रयत्न विद्यापीठे करत आहेत ..परीक्षा 30 सप्टेंबर पर्यंत घेता येणार नाहीत 31 ऑक्टोबरपर्यंत यूजीसीने मुदतवाढ द्यावी अशी विनंती शासनाने यूजीसी ला करावी असे मत कुलगुरूंनी मांडले.
— Uday Samant (@samant_uday) August 31, 2020
Specialist Team for Holding Final Year University Exams amid COVID-19
Nevertheless, the state government is yet to make an official announcement for conducting final year exams. A team led by Vice-Chancellors of universities has been roped in to decide upon undergraduate and postgraduate courses who will also consider modalities to conduct exams.
The state government has framed a 6-member team headed by Dr Suhas Pednekar, comprising two former Mumbai University Vice-Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors of Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nanded, and SNDT Universities and Directors of Higher and Technical education.
Maharashtra Government Plans Before Final Decision on University Exams
The state government will make uniform guidelines for conducting exams for all the students. In case universities claim to hold online exams, the team will evaluate its feasibility in all respects.
The state formed committees soon after the Supreme court pronounced its verdict on conducting final year exams. Post this, the education minister tweeted asking Union Government to guide them in conducting exams within September 30.
He said, “The universities are trying to ensure that the final year exams can be given to the students from home. The exams will not be held until September 30. The Vice-Chancellor opined that the government should request the UGC to extend the term till October 2020".
