Delhi government on Saturday, 11 July, announced that it has cancelled all Delhi state university exams, including final exams, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reported ANI.
“The Delhi government has decided to cancel all Delhi state university exams including final exams in view of COVID-19. The degree will be awarded based on evaluation parameters decided by the universities,” Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced, as quoted by ANI.
Sisodia further said that CM Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to take a similar decision for the universities and colleges under the Centre.
Kejriwal took to Twitter to share the letter he wrote to PM Modi and urged him to consider it “for the sake of youth.”
The move by Delhi government comes just days after the Home Ministry on 6 July issued a notification saying final-term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC guidelines for the universities.
The same day, the University Grants Commission (UGC) said that final-year university examinations may be conducted by the end of September, either online, offline or through a combination of both.
The guidelines also said that in case a student is unable to write final-year exams, she can appear for a special examination at a later period, as and when feasible.
The Delhi University, on 8 July, had notified that the Open Book Examination (OBE) for all streams of Final year/Semester/Term of undergraduate and postgraduate students including SOL and NCWEB scheduled to be held from 10 July, stand postponed until after 15 August 2020.
The following day, the Delhi High Court had some strong criticism for Delhi University for failing to provide a clear timetable for conducting the final exams for its students.
Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad of the court have now ordered the DU administration to file a fresh affidavit in court specifying the exact schedule of conducting the exams, whether they’ll be online or offline exams, and what students who won’t be able to sit for the exams at this time will have to do.
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