Maharashtra cancels final-year college, university exams: Is it good or bad news for students?

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 31 announced there won’t be any examinations for final-year college/university students across the state due to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. However, implementing this could be tough with the human resource development ministry and its body University Grants Commission (UGC) saying final year exams will be held.

Thackeray said final-year students will be awarded aggregate marks depending on their performance in the past semesters. Maharashtra is the first state to cancel exams.

However, Moneycontrol spoke to a few state-level professors and national-level vice-chancellors who said while holding examinations right now is not possible, cancelling them altogether may not be a viable option.

Also Read: Maharashtra CM orders final-year exams to be cancelled

“Students will apply for further education programmes in India and abroad. If aggregate marks are taken, candidates may lose out on getting entry into prestigious institutes. Some form of testing is necessary,” said the economics department head at a Mumbai-based college.

So, we have decided that students will get aggregate marks based on their performance in the previous semesters for that academic year. This is because there is no clarity on when the exams can be held. The future of students should not be kept hanging because of this.

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— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) May 31, 2020

The union HRD ministry and minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank have clarified on multiple occasions that is not feasible to cancel examinations for final year students.

In an interaction with higher education institutions on May 28 as well, Nishank said if the COVID-19 situation does not improve by July, new modes of conducting exams will have to be looked at. However, he reiterated that institutions cannot cancel examinations and have to conduct it for all final-year students.

The vice-chancellor of a West Bengal university said it would be tougher for students from Maharashtra to apply for courses in other states with aggregate marks.

“Exams have not been cancelled across the country. Hence, students from Maharashtra may lose out compared to someone from maybe Bengal or Tamil Nadu who will be able to present better scores for the final term,” he added.

He also said UGC guidelines do not allow granting of degrees without conducting examinations. Hence, the VC said it would be tough to allow this scenario by the central government and its allied bodies.

While the Maharashtra CM has given an option to students to appear at examinations at a later date if they want better marks, once the new academic sessions begin this could be challenging.

“If a student has been given say 65 percent as aggregate, how will they even apply for admissions to say a course where 75 percent is the cut-off. Even if he/she is able to improve their marks to 80-85 percent by September/October, how will this be useful? By then, admissions would have closed,” said the director of a Chennai-based technical institute.

As far as implementation is concerned, the performance of a candidate in the previous semester of the academic year has to be followed. It is not yet clear whether the final grade will be a simple average of past grades or whether some other formula will be used.

Further, clarification is awaited for programmes mandatorily requiring separate marks for field projects. 

"Students who may have scored poorly due to absence or illness in the previous semester will lose out. He/she must be given an opportunity to appear at least for an oral test though the use of mobile, said the placements in-charge and deputy director of a Pune-based institute.  

Though a few institutes across India have started conducting examinations online, students without access to laptops and computers cannot access these systems.

What did the Maharashtra CM say?

During his public address on May 31, Thackeray said there is uncertainty around when examinations can be held in the state.

The state has 67,655 cases of COVID-19 with 2,286 deaths so far.

"Can examinations be held in June? No. Can they be held in July or August? I cannot say. Hence, students and their future should not suffer because of this," he added.

But, if a student wants to appear for the final exams to improve their previous performance, they can be given an opportunity in September, October or November, based on how the situation evolves.

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) May 31, 2020

Thackeray said there was a meeting held with Vice-Chancellors (VCs) on May 30 regarding final year college exams.

“They (VCs) unanimously said the present circumstances do not allow for examinations to be held immediately as it is risky for lakhs of students to come together for exams,” he added.

It is estimated that 500,000 students across Maharashtra will benefit because of this announcement. Once the lockdown completely lifts, students who have a grievance with the ‘aggregate marking system’ will voluntarily appear for examinations at a later date.