maharashtra final year exams: Final year exams for non-professional courses to be optional in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: The state higher and technical education department announced that all final-year exams for non-professional traditional courses across 14 public universities will be made optional. Students will have to give a written consent on their choice – if they wish to appear for the exams, individual universities will come out with a schedule at a later date based on the Covid-19 crisis in their jurisdiction. Around 7.3 lakh students are enrolled in the final year of non-professional courses.

For the remaining 2.8 lakh students from professional courses such as engineering, law, architecture, hotel management, MBA, etc, the state will seek guidelines from the central councils governing this courses, including AICTE, Bar Council of India, Council of Architecture etc. Higher education minister Uday Samant announced the government resolution in a Facebook Live session with students on Friday evening. He said that the state will inform the central councils that they are not in a position to hold exams with the given Covid situation in state. The GR, released in Friday, mentioned that holding an exam will involve preparation of question papers, supervision, transportation of answersheets, assessment, preparation of results, etc. It further elaborated that if any one involved in the process is exposed to Covid-19, there will be a possibility of transmission to larger numbers. Currently, 41 colleges and 198 hostels are being used as quarantine centres across the state, added the GR.

For the non-professional courses, students opting for the average of grades from their previous semesters, will have to give a written declaration accepting the conditions. The ones opting for exams, will have to give a declaration stating the same and the exams will be taken in consultation with district officials.

The GR emphasised on the fact that it is not feasible to conduct exams in the present situation in the state as the number of Covid cases are on the rise. “Also it is important to start with the new academic session and not hold back students’ career prospects by delaying the decision on exams,” mentioned the GR.

A decision on the backlog of final-year students will be taken in the next two to three days after a meeting with the vice-chancellors, said Samant.