Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Friday took a strong objection to the state government’s proposal to skip the examination of final year students.
In a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Governor Koshyari expressed his objection to Higher Education Minister Uday Samant’s letter to University Grant’s Commission a couple of days ago recommending it to skip examination of final year students. Governor Koshyari has asked Thackeray to resolve the issue “without any further delay in the larger interest of students”.
“Not conducting the final year examinations by the Universities amounts to a breach of the UGC guidelines and also the relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016,” Governor Koshyari stated in the letter. He also asked CM Uddhav Thackeray to issue “suitable” instructions to Minister Uday Samant for his “unwarranted intervention”.
Governor Koshyari wrote that he was not apprised by Samant before recommending the cancellation of final year examinations to the UGC.
The Governor of Maharashtra also pointed out provisions of the relevant Universities Act that empower universities to hold examinations and confer degrees upon successful students. “It would not be ethical or appropriate to award degrees to final year students without conducting their examinations, which results in the violation of the provisions of the Universities’ Act,” Governor Koshyari’s letter said.
In addition, the Governor also observed that receiving degrees by students without undertaking any kind of examinations would have an adverse impact on their higher studies, graduation and employability options.
Governor Koshyari pointed out that the Union Home Ministry has granted exemption from lockdown measures to the State Education Boards/CBSE/ICSE etc to conduct Standard X and XII examinations. The UGC has also issued guidelines on lockdown measures covering important dimensions related to examinations and the academic calendar of the university.
Leave a Reply