SC Decision on UGC Guidelines LIVE Updates: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) July 6 circular, directing varsities to conduct final term exams by September 30. The UGC circular had mandated universities to conduct the final term exams in all affiliated universities by the end of September amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The apex court said states must hold exams by September 30 to promote students, and if any states feel they can’t conduct exams, they must approach the UGC with their concerns.

 

Observing that students cannot be promoted without University final year exams, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that states must hold exams to promote students. It said that states under the Disaster Management Act can postpone exams in view of pandemic and can consult UGC to fix dates. 

 

UGC on 6 July had announced that colleges and universities will need to conduct final year and final semester exams by the end of September. And such exams can be conducted offline (pen and paper), online, or blended (online + offline) mode. The apex education regulator had then said that its decision not to scrap the final semester and final year exams is based on academic prudence and the need for maintaining credibility.

 

Earlier, the court had reserved its judgment on August 18 and had said it will also decide whether the states will have power under the Disaster Management Act to defer the final examination till the situation normalizes.

 

HERE ARE TOP POINTS ON THE SUPREME COURT’S VERDICT ON UGC FINAL YEAR EXAMS:

— One of the 31 petitioners, who has tested positive for coronavirus, had sought directions to the UGC to adopt the CBSE model and conduct an examination at a later date for the students who are not satisfied with the marks awarded on the basis of the assessment.

Petitioners Seek Cancellation of Exams | The students, in their petition, said the examinations should be canceled and the results of such students should either be calculated on the basis of their internal assessment or past performance.

— The UGC’s July 6 circular was challenged by as many as 31 students from different universities across India who approached the Supreme Court to reject the guidelines mandating all universities in the country to wrap up the final term examinations before September 30.

— States have argued that the UGC exam guidelines interfere with their rights as health-related decisions lay within the powers of the state governments.

‘Responses Received from 818 Varsities’ | Out of the 818 universities, 603 have either conducted the examination or are planning to conduct. While 209 others have already conducted examination (on-line/off-line), 394 are planning to conduct examination (on-line/off-line/blended mode) in August or September.

 

States Claim UGC Guidelines Finalised Without Consulting Them | The state governments of Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, and Odisha had last week urged the top court to direct the UGC to defer the final year examinations as the lives of lakhs of university students may be jeopardized due to the pandemic. The states said they were not consulted before finalizing the UGC guidelines.

Hearing Concluded Last Week | On August 18, the Supreme Court concluded the hearing and reserved its order.