Universities to conduct only final year exam, 1st and 2nd year student to pass on internal assessment basis

New Delhi : Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Friday announced that the universities will be conducting only the final year examination this year. The students in the first and second year will be promoted on the basis of internal assessment.

The minister conveyed the decision to heads of more than 45,000 higher educational institutes during a live webinar on Thursday. The report said that the heads of institutions welcomed the decision.

According to a Times of India report, 50% of weightage will be given to previous exams and 50% of weightage will be given to internal assessment of the current semester for 1st and 2nd year students.

As per the UGC guidelines, final year exam is scheduled to be conducted in July. However, if the COVID-19 does not improve before that, new dates for the exams will be announced.

Earlier, UGC had formed two panels to chalk out future plans for universities and colleges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. A seven-member panel headed by Haryana Central University vice-chancellor RC Kuhad recommended that the new academic calendar can be initiated in the month of September. The panel also proposed that all the exams which have been delayed should be held in the month of July.

Based on the recommendations, UGC has recommended that the admission process for the 1st year students begin from August 1st and the process should be completed before August 31st. The academic process for new students can begin from September 1st. For old students, the studies are suggested to begin from August 1st itself.

The Commission also recommended colleges to conduct the annual/semester exams in the month of July and the result be declared by July 31st, 2020. To expedite the process, the commission has recommended to use a simplified way of conducting the exam like shortening the exam duration and flexibility of both online and offline examination.