Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday wrote to Minister of Human Resource and Development seeking for states to have a say in conducting semester exams.
In his letter he wrote that the Tamil Nadu government has been taking efforts to control the pandemic that has been borne good results. However, he mentioned that “any minor let up may pose a challenge to the state”.
Highlighting that Tamil Nadu has a far higher Gross Enrolment Ration in higher studies (49%), he said that it would constitute a large number of students.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier scheduled the exams in April 2020 which was cancelled considering the rise in COVID cases. The earlier circular issued by the University Grants Commission on 29th April, let the states decide on the matter. However, the new guidelines mandate universities and colleges across India to conduct the exams.
CM Palaniswami mentioned that many students are present outside the district, states and even out of the country. He also said that online examinations would not be feasible considering the digital accessibility of the students. He added that most of the Government Arts and Science College, Engineering Colleges, etc have been converted into COVID Care Centres for housing asymptomatic patients.
He said that if the state is not in a position to conduct examinations even after September 2020, it would jeopardise the future of students as many would have got placed on campus or applied for higher studies.
He therefore requested the Centre to let the states decide on assessment methods without compromising on quality and academic credibility.
Punjab Chief Minister has also written to the Centre regarding the same.