A Revisit to the Guidelines on Final Year Examination is Necessary for UGC
The very important duties of the government during natural disasters like the one which is ongoing coronavirus. Although, the government has taken a few steps. The most affected part of people is the students, especially the final year students who would have graduated in June, but this year they have to rely on the UGC.
UGC has issued the latest guidelines in which the central body for maintaining higher educational standards in the country has mandated the conducting of final year examinations, even as it recommended the cancellation of intermediate semester examinations. To circumvent the impossibility of conducting a physical exam during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UGC has first recommended online exams. When students pointed out the stark digital divide in the country, the UGC has begun advocating offline or “blended” online plus offline exams.
The UGC has decided to enforce the exams for final year students and cancelled the exams of other semesters and avoided its poor understanding of the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) adopted by India’s universities. Under the CBCS, the academic years are split into semesters that carry more or less equal weightage towards awarding degrees to graduates. Every semester is equal and independent of other semesters. But according to the UGC’s guidelines it is clear that they do not understand this simple truth. The Centre believes that final semester exams are “exit” exams and, therefore, more important.
The fundamental reason we should not hold exams is straightforward: it is not safe for students to collect at the same place and give exams. It is not that examinations are the only way to assess students. The reliance on written, subjective-type exams has already stagnated our university courses and the way they are taught at colleges. The world’s finest educational institutions have cancelled exams during the pandemic and chosen to conduct internal assessments.
The universities should complete all final-semester exams by the end of September according to the UGC guidelines. This timeline is cruel at a time when a poor economic outlook, lack of jobs in the market and a global health crisis are already troubling the youth for their careers. They were looking forward to receiving their degrees and moving on from their student lives to looking for jobs so they could begin to support themselves and their households. But now, they will likely finish their exams in September that is four months late and receive degrees by November and their lives will have been set back by several months.The UGC is required to revisit its guidelines immediately and take a humane and rational approach in this matter. If we force students to carry out this farce, we will have miserably failed our younger generation.
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