Punjab CM announced postponement of exams for the Exit classes in all the universities of the state till July 15

Chandigarh: Responding to concerns expressed by students and parents on the conduct of examinations in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced postponement of exams for the Exit classes in all the universities of the state till July 15.

The final decision on the subject will, however, be subject to the new directions/guidelines expected to be released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) any time.

Seeking to allay all confusion and uncertainty on this count, the Chief Minister said the postponement till July 15 will also give all the stakeholders, especially the universities, time to adapt and align to the new guidelines that will come from UGC.

An official spokesperson said the Chief Minister felt there was need to remove confusion from the minds of students, teachers and parents regarding safe conduct of examinations.

It may be recalled that Punjab’s universities had taken a decision to conduct exams of Exit classes in the month of July 2020, in accordance with the guidelines issued by UGC on April 29. The UGC had then announced that it will review the situation again. However, the decision regarding academic activities, especially conduct of examinations, is still awaited from UGC.

The Chief Minister has been repeatedly pointing out that since all the universities and colleges in Punjab are accredited/affiliated to UGC, any decision on the exams can only be taken by the statutory body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.