NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JULY 1
The Gujarat government on Wednesday rolled back its decision to conduct the final year examinations for various courses under state-run universities within hours of announcing it, in view of a directive issued by the Union HRD Ministry asking states to defer all exams.
After attending the cabinet meeting this morning, state Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama announced that the government had decided to allow state-run varsities to hold the final year exams.
Majority of students are in favour of holding examinations as they want degrees for further studies or to secure jobs, though some are against such move, he had told reporters.
In a social media poll conducted recently by the Gujarat Technological University (GTU), 54,000 students favoured holding of exams while only 900 students opposed the move, he said.
However, Congress has opposed the decision to conduct examinations and have demanded that the students be mass promoted.
“The corona crisis in Gujarat is out of control. More than 32,000 people have been infected and over 1,800 lost their lives. At such a time, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and various other committees, set up in different universities and colleges, recommended cancellation of all examinations and a merit-based progression. Despite this, the GTU has gone ahead. This is playing with the lives of students,” said Amit Chavda, Gujarat Congress president.
In the current situation no examinations be conducted and all students should be mass promoted, Paresh Dhanani, Leader of the Opposition, said.
After GTU, other universities will also conduct the final year exams, he said. GTU exams were scheduled to start on Thursday, July 2.
Chudasama called a press conference in the evening to inform that no exam will be conducted for now.
“After my announcement in the morning, the Union HRD Ministry sent a communication to all states, asking them to postpone all exams until further notice.
“We (state government) have now decided not to hold the final year exams in Gujarat for now,” the education minister said, adding that new schedule for exams will be announced later.
