Punjab varsities ready to conduct exams amid calls for rethink

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 27

Universities in Punjab are undecided on whether to cancel the annual examination, scheduled to commence from July 1, requiring students’ physical presence at exam centres.

Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said: “We will conduct the examination as per the University Grants Commission guidelines. If it asks us to cancel these, we will do so.”

Curbs on gathering go?

Has the Punjab Govt given special relaxation to GNDU to waive condition of gathering of no more than 50? —Punjab & Chandigarh Teachers Union

VCs of Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Punjabi University, Patiala, Prof Raj Kumar and Prof BS Ghuman, respectively, said as of now, they were prepared to conduct the examination.

“A committee of the UGC met earlier this week in Delhi. A final decision on the guidelines is expected any time. We are ready to conduct the examination, but are also aware of the health issues involved,” said Prof Ghuman.

Urging the Punjab Government to cancel the examinations in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, a senior PU professor quoted an order of the Technical Education Department (Haryana) that said: “Terminal examination (final semester) and intermediate semester examination for higher and technical education of all courses will not be conducted and all students shall be promoted to the next semester with 50 per cent weightage of marks of internal assessment and 50 per cent of marks in previous examinations”.

The issue gains significance in the context of the Supreme Court ordering cancellation of pending Class X and XII examinations of CBSE-affiliated schools. Adding to the confusion, the office of the Director Public Instructions (DPI) Colleges, in a communication to Vice Chancellors and others connected with education, on June 23 asked them to be prepared for examinations.

Reacting sharply, the Punjab and Chandigarh Teachers Union (PCCTU), in a communication to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, said: “GNDU communication that it will conduct examination as per the UGC guidelines is creating panic and confusion among teachers and students. We wish to know whether the Punjab Government has given special relaxation to GNDU to waive the special condition of gathering of not more than 50 people.”