AKU defers MBBS exams, medicos want to be promoted

AKU defers MBBS exams, medicos want to be promoted 

In a notification issued Monday, the AKU deferred these examinations “till further orders”. The exams were earlier scheduled to commence from July 28. 

EDUCATION Updated: Jul 02, 2020 16:34 IST 

Ruchir Kumar

Hindustan Times, Patna 

Aryabhatt Knowledge University at Mithapur in Patna Hindustan Times 

The Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU) will defer the second professional 2019 and the third professional part-I 2019 (II) examinations in Bihar in view of coronavirus (Covid-19). 

In a notification issued Monday, the AKU deferred these examinations “till further orders”. The exams were earlier scheduled to commence from July 28. 

“The decision to defer the MBBS exams was taken by chairman of the examination board, who is also AKU vice-chancellor, after discussion with other members, including external members from the department of science and technology, government of Bihar,” said AKU examination controller Rajeev Ranjan. 

New dates for conducting these examinations would now be issued after receiving suggestions by the state or central government or necessary directives by the regulator, the Medical Council of India, Ranjan added. 

“The decision to defer the examinations was taken based on suggestion by medicos, many of whom were stranded outside the state. The medicos had expressed apprehensions of contracting Covid-19 if they were to travel back to appear for the exams,” added Ranjan. 

The Hindustan Times had on June 28 carried a news report titled “Medicos irked as AKU announces exam dates amid rising Covid cases”. 

Medicos of intermediate semesters, however, are not satisfied by the AKU decision. They want the university to promote them to the next semester based on marks obtained in previous semesters and are bracing up to seek legal remedy. 

Barring MBBS and dental, the AKU has already postponed examinations and decided to promote to the next semester all students of B.Tech, B.Pharma, BBA, B.Com and BMC among other courses. 

“As per the AKU itinerary, our MBBS second professional exams were scheduled in January, this year. However, they got delayed till July because of Covid-19. If the university defers the exams further, we will continue in the MBBS second year for more than two years, whereas the curriculum is of one-and-a-half year only,” said Kritika Singh, a second year MBBS student of the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), stuck in Delhi at present. 

“Deferring the exams further will not only hold us back in the same class, but also leave us with little time to attend classes and prepare for third professional exams. As such, we are demanding that the students be promoted internally,” she said. 

“Besides, those whose previous grades are not good and they want to improve should be allowed to do so when the pandemic eases,” said Kritika, who has taken it upon herself to fight on behalf of the medicos. 

Ranjan, however, said any decision to promote the medicos without conducting exams would have to be taken by the MCI.