Varsity exam nod upsets students

Varsity exam nod upsets students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.07.2020

Bengaluru: Undergraduate and postgraduate students are upset with the central government’s decision to allow universities to conduct final-term exams this year, saying online classes had been not useful and some physical sessions should be held before the papers.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is expected to advise universities to hold exams before September-end. The department of higher education in Karnataka is expected to convene a meeting of vicechancellors on Thursday to discuss the issue.

Students said after concerns about the effectiveness of web sessions, many universities had promised to conduct on-campus classes before exams. They fear the exams will be fast-tracked and they won’t get enough time to prepare.

The All India Democratic Students’ Organisation has demanded cancellation of final-year exams. “Recently, the Supreme Court allowed cancellation of CBSE and ICSE exams. The number of students under UGC is much larger. Most of the institutions have not completed the syllabus and the reach of online classes is negligible in the country. The decision to conduct the examination has come as a rude shock to students,” it said.

Sowmya KP, a BSc student, wondered whether it was safe for candidates, who had returned to their hometowns, to travel amid a spike in infections. KR Venugopal, V-C, Bangalore University, said when and how the exams should be conducted would be discussed at Thursday’s meeting. “If we are to conduct exams, we need physical classes. For that, hostels have to be open,” he said. Full report toi.in