Can’t award degrees without exams: UGC

NEW DELHI: India’s higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC), told the Supreme Court on Monday that degrees cannot be conferred on students without final year examinations being held and that it alone is empowered to take a call on whether or not the exams can take place or should be cancelled.

State governments cannot cancel examinations, that power lies with the UGC, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the UGC, told the top court in response to the stance of the Delhi and Maharashtra governments that they have cancelled final year/ terminal semester examinations because of Covid -19.

“How can states cancel exams when UGC is empowered to confer degrees? Students cannot get degrees without exams. Such degrees will not be recognized by UGC. That is the law,” Mehta told a three-judge bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan.

The bench, which also comprised justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah, was hearing a batch of petitions by students and organizations challenging the July 6 guidelines issue by UGC on holding final year examinations by September 30.

The petitioners have demanded that the apex court consider scrapping online/ offline tests and instead direct the UGC to declare results by July 31 based on the past performance of students or internal assessment.

“It’s not just about a couple of students. Any decision regarding exams impacts a large number of students,” said Mahesh Verma, vice chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University-- a state government-run institution in Delhi that has promoted students based on their performance in the last semester and internal tests.

“Many of them are living in far-flung areas amid the pandemic and have no access to devices and the internet. They did not get opportunities to attend online classes. How can we take exams of students who could not be taught? ” he asked.