Just like the entire country, Mumbai is also grappling with the coronavirus situation. The pandemic situation has delayed all academic calendars in the country including Mumbai University examinations. The university had earlier cancelled all non-terminal year examinations. However, the final year students’ examinations were under uncertainties.
Mumbai alone has over 90,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and over 23,000 active cases. Authorities at the Mumbai University are looking at alternatives for the working year. From organising webinars, workshops to the possibility of pushing the next academic semester online, MU is finding ways to start the next academic calendar.
The Mumbai University has proposed the cancellation of the final year students, however, this was opposed by the governor of Maharashtra. The final decision has still not arrived and the students continue to wonder if the final year exams will be held.
A letter has also been sent to the UGC by the Mumbai University along with other varsities. The University Grants Commission had moved the conducting of examinations from July to September and had urged the varsities to conduct a combination of online and offline tests for the final year students. In the letter along with the health risk, several adversities of the virus were mentioned, it is a high risk for any student with pre-existing health conditions.
Since the online infrastructure is unavailable to many students in the country. The UGC had revealed a unique open book examination pattern, however, the letter mentions that OBE plays with the fundamentals of examinations. The UGC is yet to respond to all the letters that were written to them, a formal statement is yet to be made.
The state education minister of Maharashtra stands firm on the decision of not conducting exams in the state. The state is looking at passing 3.9 lakh students which reportedly includes the backlog students. Mumbai University is also one of the varsity which is looking at giving a final statement to the students.
