HC declines to pass order promoting UG, PG students

HC declines to pass order promoting UG, PG students

10/07/2020

Telangana High Court on Thursday declined to pass an order to the State to promote degree and post-graduate students to final year based on marks in internal assessment exams.

A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, hearing two PIL pleas, directed the State government to file a counter affidavit in three weeks. During the previous hearing on June 30, the government informed the HC that all Common Entrance Tests were postponed. The bench, however, did not pass any specific direction on UG and PG exams on that day. The petitioner’s counsel C. Damoder Reddy appealed to the bench to promote students based on their internal assessment marks. The AG told the court that the government had decided to hold examinations as per UGC norms following standard practices. Differing with the petitioner’s counsel, the bench observed that courts cannot compel the State government to take a policy decision on examinations.

Exams delayed, engg. students worry losing placements

Exams delayed, engg. students worry losing placements

Deemed and private varsity students safe as their online exams are over

10/07/2020

Engineering students of State universities after securing placements in IT companies are now unsure of their joining even as their peers in deemed universities enjoy that privilege.

With continuous postponement of final year exams, they are unsure of their result even as the deadlines of joining in several companies they were placed are already over. On the other hand, engineering students in deemed universities completed their examinations online and are ready to join the companies.

“Several of our classmates are worried over the delay in conducting the exams as the company deadlines for joining have either expired or nearing,” says Vaishnavi from Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT). “The government should do something fast so that students selected in the campus placement drive don’t lose out,” she says expressing the concerns of hundreds of such students in JNTU-H and Osmania University.

Final year students get job offers in the fifth semester itself but join after completing the exams, which are usually over by May-end with results declared in June. However, with the pandemic, universities have postponed exams several times and the issue has also landed up in the courts now.

It is not the problem of just JNTU-H or Osmania University but of all the government universities in the country as exams have been postponed due to the pandemic. However, private universities and deemed universities conducted their exams online. A representative of Gitam, a deemed-to-be-university, said that online exams were conducted and even certificates have been issued to students joining companies or going abroad for higher studies.

“Government should explore online exams method so that thousands of students who are placed in companies join without any hassles. Why should they lose out when deemed universities’ students have the advantage of online exams,” asks the placement officer of a reputed college NLN Reddy.

If the government decides to follow the UGC guidelines, exams will be conducted only in September and students will graduate in October. Will the IT companies give some flexibility to students is a question?

Some students, who have been recruited and unwilling to share their companies’ names, said a few IT firms have adjusted the joining dates but several companies are yet to reveal their plans. “The delay will complicate things for us as we fear companies may choose to recruit others,” said a student from a private engineering college recruited in an MNC.

Cancel DU final-term exams, say academics

Cancel DU final-term exams, say academics

They ask UGC to reconsider guidelines

10/07/2020

The UGC’s latest guidelines extend the period for holding the exams. 

Sushil Kumar Verma

A group of about 30 academics across the country, including former University Grants Commission chairperson Sukhadeo Thorat, wrote to the current chairperson Dhirendra Pal Singh on Thursday appealing for the cancellation of the final-term examinations.

“I am hoping that as fellow teachers committed to the welfare of our students and the integrity of our examinations, you and your colleagues in the commission will take note of the widespread sentiment that this appeal represents,” wrote Mr. Thorat.

Fresh uncertainty

The UGC’s latest guidelines issued on Monday effectively extend the period for holding the exams and create fresh uncertainty for States that had already decided to cancel exams, the signatories, including Jayati Ghosh, Apoorvanand, Sunil Kumar, Nandini Sundar among others, wrote.

They argued that the call to cancel the exams was not being made because of doubts about its value, but precisely to avoid it being devalued. In the present situation, cancelling exams served the purpose of avoiding extended uncertainty through repeated postponements and protecting the integrity of exams.

Given the realities faced by an overwhelming majority of students, online or mixed exams would be biased in favour of those with better Internet access and without proper invigilation. Terming exams as “open book” was an attempt at renaming failing a virtue, they argued.

They appealed to the UGC to reconsider its advisory in the interests of students and ending the uncertainty involved by cancelling them.

2L ask UGC to scrap final-year exams

2L ask UGC to scrap final-year exams

10/07/2020

Nearly two lakh people signed a petition, calling for the scrapping of final-semester examinations in all universities across the country, as recommended by the UGC in a recent order.

Students in several universities had already submitted internal assignments, expecting to be assessed based in those and had even started preparing for entrance examinations for further studies, the petition noted. “The sudden decision by the UGC is bound to cause mental agony to lakhs of terminal semester students especially when many states like Maharashtra and Punjab have already decided to scrap their exams,” it read. The guidelines issued by the UGC are not in the wider interest of the student community as they would also delay the commencement of the new academic session, it argued.

Punjab for cancellation of varsity, college exams

Punjab for cancellation of varsity, college exams

Situation not conducive for it due to COVID-19, says CM

10/07/2020

CM Amarinder Singh

Describing the COVID-19 situation in the State as non-conducive for conduct of examinations, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking cancellation of exams in universities and colleges.

The Chief Minister said he will seek revocation of the July 6 Ministry of Home order on compulsory conduct of final terms exams in the universities and colleges by September, and withdrawal of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) guidelines accordingly.

COVID-19 cases in Punjab are increasing every day and are projected to peak in September, Captain Amarinder pointed out, adding that he was not ready to risk the lives of students in these circumstances.

“How can we take the risk of exposing students by bringing them together for exams at this juncture?,” asked the Chief Minister. He further said that the exams could not be held in online mode, which the UGC had suggested as an option, since a large section of the students in Punjab, especially in the rural areas and among the backward communities, do not have access to affordable and uninterrupted Internet connectivity.

‘Not feasible’

It is just not feasible to hold exams in the current situation, he stressed at a meeting of the Education Department to discuss the issue. Pointing out that seven other States had already raised their concerns on this count with the Central government, Capt. Amarinder said all Congress-ruled States had in fact decided to approach the Union government in this regard.

Notably, the Punjab government had already announced its decision to award degrees and diplomas, and promote students on the basis of performance of past

Govt. reverses its order on EWS certificates

Govt. reverses its order on EWS certificates

10/07/2020

The State government on Thursday reversed its decision of not allowing income and asset certificates to be issued to candidates of economically weaker section (EWS) in general category.

No bar on tahsildars

Hereafter, there will be no bar on tahsildars to issue such certificates but the document should state specifically that it is meant only for seeking admission to Central educational institutions or employment in Central government, according to a circular issued by Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Revenue Administration K. Phanindra Reddy to District Collectors.

The latest development marks restoration of the original decision of the State government in May 2019, asking Collectors to have the certificates issued to persons belonging to the EWS for the purpose of education and employment in the Central government, says a senior official.

Students in Kyrgyzstan seek govt. help to return home

Students in Kyrgyzstan seek govt. help to return home

Over 650 students have been facing issues relating to health, lodging and food

10/07/2020

Over 650 medical students from Tamil Nadu, stranded in Kyrgyzstan, have appealed to the Indian Embassy in Bishkek to help them return home.

The students, pursuing medicine at various universities there, said that they were asked to remain in their hostels in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and were facing issues with respect to their health, lodging and food over the last few months.

M. Giridharan, a first-year MBBS student hailing from Villupuram, said that the students had submitted petitions and e-mails to the Indian Embassy in Bishkek, seeking repatriation flights to be arranged to Tiruchi or Chennai. “After months of struggle, the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission included two flights to Tamil Nadu,” he said.

A total of 324 students have reached Tamil Nadu between July 2 and 4. However, many students from central and southern Tamil Nadu, including Tiruchi, Madurai and Ramanathapuram, are still stranded, he told The Hindu.

The students circulated a spreadsheet among their contacts and found that there were as many as 641 Tamil students at various universities across cities in Kyrgyzstan. “COVID-19 cases are gradually increasing here and we are in a lockdown. We have been asked to remain in our hostel rooms, but food supplies and lodging facilities have taken a hit,” said Mr. Giridharan.

No response

While students from other States are being evacuated, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to respond to the pleas, Mr. Giridharan said. “We are not able to go out and purchase what we require on a daily basis. COVID-19 cases are increasing and there are no good medical facilities,” he said. T. Manikandan, a second-year MBBS student at Jalal-Abad State University, said that while they were trying to return home, their parents were worried sick. “We continue to tell them that we will be back soon, but even we are clueless,” he said.

Some universities, like Mr. Manikandan’s, have begun online classes. “We can attend these classes from home as well, so we request the government to arrange flights to Tiruchi, if services to Chennai are not possible,”