Universities asked to prepare fresh exam schedule

With the lockdown affecting the annual examination season at colleges, the state minister for higher and technical education, Uday Samant, on Monday interacted with

With the lockdown affecting the annual examination season at colleges, the state minister for higher and technical education, Uday Samant, on Monday interacted with all vice-chancellors of all state universities via a video call. Samant asked the universities to take measures to calm the nerves of students by clearing any queries regarding examinations as well as help the government in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

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“The minister urged all heads of universities to release a fresh exam schedule as plan B for whenever the lockdown is lifted. This means we have to keep more than one exam schedule ready. In case the lockdown is not lifted on April 14, we will need another schedule for the examination,” said one of the officials attending the virtual meeting.

Keeping in mind the pending curriculum, the minister also inquired about the techniques adopted by departments and institutes to ensure completion of the syllabus. “We put together a set of mobile and computer applications that can be used by all polytechnic and technical institutes to ensure that students are not at a loss and their education is not affected. The application also checks attendance of teachers and teaching content every day for transparency purposes,” said Abhay Wagh, director, state Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).

Apart from curriculum and examinations, Samant also urged universities to set up think-tank labs in their respective universities to come up with possible solutions to solve the Covid-19 crisis. “University of Mumbai has recently launched a helpline for their students. The minister has urged more universities to follow suit and reach out to students,” said another official.