Students from across the country have raised questions on the logic behind conducting final year examinations by September 30, when it was not allowed in April when the COVID-19 situation in the country was better. The argument was made by their counsels on a batch of petitions that is being heard in the Supreme Court currently.
The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by students from across the country against the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s order to conduct final year exams by September 30. On Friday, senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Shyam Divan submitted their arguments on behalf of the petitioners before a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan.
Advocate Singhvi submitted that while he was not against conducting exams in normal times, the current situation is not normal. He stated that the pandemic is an extraordinary situation and a global problem. Highlighting how there is a great disparity between the classes of students, he added that many students rely on public transport for commuting to colleges and the UGC order will cause several practical problems for the students.
Meanwhile, Advocate Divan argued that when the UGC had prohibited the conduct of examinations in April when the COVID-19 numbers were low in the country, how can the Commission be allowed to order for the conduct of exams now when the number of infected patients are in lakhs and on the rise every other day. Recording the submissions, the bench posted the next hearing on the matter for August 18.
In Thursday’s hearing, the union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had submitted that it had granted permission for the colleges and universities to function for the limited purpose of conducting the final term examinations for the students. The MHA stated that though this is contrary to the guidelines issued by it on ‘Unlock-3’ on July 29, the exemption has been allowed based on a request by the Ministry of Education (MHRD).
The UGC had, on July 6, ordered all the universities and colleges to complete conducting final year examinations for students by September 30. The reason behind the order was that the students need to be able to join their higher education courses or pursue employment opportunities. However, many states including Tamil Nadu and Punjab wrote to the MHRD opposing the order, stating that the COVID-19 situation in their states is serious and many colleges and universities are functioning as COVID care centres and quarantine centres.