Highlights:
- Supreme Court says final year students cannot be promoted without examinations
- UGC argues that exams are must to protect the academic future of the students
- UGC questioned the decision of Maharashtra and Delhi govt of cancelling final year exams
The final year college examinations must be held this year however, the states can request to defer the date beyond 30th September if they see necessary owing to the novel Coronavirus crisis, said the Supreme Court, today.
The apex court said that the “State cannot promote students without final year examinations,”.
Multiple petitions, including one from the Yuva Sena of Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray, has called for the cancellation of the exams due to the novel Coronavirus. The petition submitted referred to the difficulties which will be faced by the students at a time when all educational institutions were closed due to COVID-19 crisis in the country.
They had argued that the students have already completed five semesters and had a Cumulative Grade Point Average also knows as CGPA, which could be the basis for results without final examinations.
However, the national education body University Grants Commission (UGC) had ordered examinations to be conducted by September 30. The UGC had argued, in the court, that the exams were a must to “protect the academic future of students” and that degrees cannot be given out to the students without conducting the examinations.
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The UGC had told the Supreme Court during the hearings that its July 6 directive asking universities and colleges to conduct final year exams by September 30 was “not a diktat” (not a problem), however, the states cannot take such a decision to confer the degrees without holding the exams.
The state, on the other hand, might want to extend the deadline for holding the exams. The Supreme Court today agreed. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah delivered the ruling through video-conferencing.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing on behalf of UGC, said the decision was for the “benefit of students” as the universities have to start admissions to postgraduate courses.
In this month itself, the UGC questioned the decisions of both Maharashtra and Delhi government of canceling the final year examinations. The college body said that such decision “directly affect the standards of higher education and will be an encroachment on the legislative field of coordinating and determining the standards of higher education that is exclusively reserved for parliament under the constitution”.
