Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal urges PM Modi to cancel final year exams in central universities

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to personally intervene and cancel final year exams of Delhi University and other central govt universities in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had announced that the final year exams for all colleges will be held in September. "This decision has led to concerns among lakhs of youth, their guardians and teachers in the country. All of them are of the opinion that this decision is wrong and must be withdrawn," Kejriwal wrote in the letter.

He asked why can't degrees be handed out to final year students based on their internal assessments like the way some Indian Institutes of Technology and National Law Universities have done. He also noted that several big universities in other countries have adopted alternate assessment methods to give degrees.

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Time for extraordinary decisions

The CM said that "extraordinary decisions" need to be taken in the times "extraordinary crisis" like the coronavirus pandemic and contended that governments are responsible to avert challenges facing people.

Kejriwal highlighted that most state governments, including Delhi, have cancelled exams and promoted students on the basis of alternative evaluation methods but "decision on central universities like the DU will have to be taken by the Union government."

"In this regard, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and the UGC is not ready to change their decision. It seems the matter will be resolved only after your intervention," Kejriwal said in the letter to the PM, adding, "It is my humble appeal that, in the interest of the students, the Centre and UGC amend the decision and cancel the final semester exams and save the future of our youth."

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Other leaders also demand

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the UGC for planning to conduct final term examinations calling it “unfair” amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Gandhi demanded the cancellation of exams and suggested that students should be promoted on the basis of past performance.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he will write to the Centre to seek their cancellation maintaining that it is not conducive to hold university and college exams due to the coronavirus outbreak. Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi too agreed with the CM's view that the situation does not allow safe conduct of exams.

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UGC eyes September

As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) permitted universities to conduct examinations during the 'Unlock 2' period, the UGC on July 7 issued revised guidelines for exams and academic calendar. Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal confirmed that final year examinations will now be conducted in September.

After the announcement, parents, students, and various state governments raised their objection over the safety and security of the students during exams given to the fact that Coronvirus cases continue to mount in the country.

UGC Secretary Professor Rajnish Jain later said that the authorities are aware of the COVID situation in the country and hence have ordered examination for only the terminal year. He stated that if in any case, students could not appear in the exam, then Universities will conduct special examinations for those students. 

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