Due to a palpable lack of coordination between the state government, the governor and the universities, students of Maharashtra are left CONFUSED, with their future hanging in the balance!
On one hand, the coronavirus pandemic has put the career plans of most of the graduating university students on hold, and on the other, there is absolutely no clarity on whether they will be expected to appear for their final exams or not.
Politics Taking Precedence?
After declaring on 8 May that universities should prepare to conduct exams in July, Technical and Higher Education minister Uday Samant wrote a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on 19 May saying "it will not be possible" to conduct exams due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
On 30 May, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, along with Samant, discussed the issue of holding final-year exams with vice-chancellors of universitites across the state, via video conferencing. The following day, Thackeray declared that the final-year exams across universities in the state will not be conducted.
Following the announcement, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is also the chancellor for state universities, wrote a letter to Thackeray. He basically said: “You cannot unilaterally decide whether exams can be conducted or not.”
There are two more parts adding to the confusion.
First, even days after Thackeray declared that exams will not be conducted, universities in the state have not officially notified the same.
Second, the state government cannot officially meddle in the functioning of the universities. Which means that till the universities don't officially notify it, it can still be assumed that exams will be conducted at some point.
The decision of cancellation is being thoroughly questioned by not just the Opposition in the state, but even by many within the education sector.
Former education minister of the state, Ashish Shelar, in a letter to the CM and the governor, has asked some valid questions. But the one question that stands out the most is: What happens to students with ATKTs?
What Happens to Students with ATKTs?
Students with ATKTs, ie, Allowed to Keep Term, have to rewrite the exams they failed in the previous semester. Across the state, around 40 percent of the students currently have ATKTs.
How will their marks be tallied? Will they have to appear for ONLY their ATKT exams? These questions still remain unanswered, even after almost a week of the announcement.
Samant has assured students with ATKTs that they need not worry and the decision regarding the same will be taken soon.
The Quint spoke to a few experts from the education sector. MU's former vice chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh said that given the current situation the exams should be cancelled but clear guidelines about it need to be notified as soon as possible. The Executive President of Pune's MIT college, Rahul Karad, thanked Thackeray and said that the decision will give relief to the students
But, even as the decision of cancellation gets mixed responses, the one big question that remains is – Will final year exams be conducted or not?
Future of 8-10 Lakh Students Hanging
Since Governor Koshyari is the chancellor of state universities, on what basis did CM Thackeray declare the cancellation of final-year exams?
Why haven't universities come out with their notifications yet?
If exams are conducted, how will social distancing be maintained?
These decisions will have to be taken by the the state government and the universities together, because we are talking about the future of 8-10 lakh final-year students. Till then, the uncertainty will keep looming over the students in Maharashtra.
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