STOP PLAYING WITH STUDENTS’ LIVES, MINISTER TELLS UGC, HRD

Over 30,000 teachers press for cancellation

Maharashtra Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant, on Sunday, targeted the University Grants Commission (UGC) over its revised guidelines on conducting final year examinations in September. He questioned whether UGC still wanted examinations to be held when COVID-19 had entered ‘safe spaces’ like Raj Bavan and also infected veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Samant in his tweet said, "Corona in Raj Bhavan.. Corona to Amitabhji.. Corona was able to reach such a safe place .. Will HRD and UGC agree now that conducting examinations is playing with the lives of students .. Will Bhushan Patwardhan side with Maharashtra now?'' Already the state government has cancelled the final year examination, citing the present

COVID

19 pandemic.

It has given an option for students to appear for them whenever they are held.

Samant's move is crucial, as last week he had sent a letter to Union Minister of Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Phokhriyal, urging him to issue unifor m guidelines about awarding degrees to final year students based on an appropriate formula. This is necessary as students are the pivotal soul of the entire educational ecosystem.

Samant had said that Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry also decided not to conduct ter minal examinations.

Over 30,000 teachers of the Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (MFUCTO) have demanded that final year examinations should not be conducted in view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Teachers claim that the safety of students is a priority. The central government should not throw teaching, nonteaching and staff involved in examinations at risk. It is unreasonable and erratic to conduct examinations during such a crucial time, claimed Tapati Mukhopadhyay, president of MFUCTO. Mukhopadhyay said, "Final year examinations cannot be conducted in Maharashtra, because the number of COVID-19 cases are only increasing every day. It is unreasonable and erratic of the central government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to direct universities and colleges to conduct examinations, as there are very high risks involved. The government should not throw students, teachers and staff at the mouth of the COVID-19 danger."

Along with over 10.18 lakh final year students, teachers and examination staff are at risks too. Nandakumar Mistry, a teacher said, "Nobody seems to be talking about the safety of teachers and staff. The safety of students is priority. But the government should understand that there are a large number of teachers and staff involved at every step of the examination process. Teachers and staff will be pushed towards danger as they have to interact with each other for paper setting, assessment, scanning, uploading, calculation of marks and result declaration process." Implementing a seating arrangement while maintaining physical distancing is impossible as the number of students is large and colleges are used as quarantine centres, said Isha Mandira, a teacher. Mandira said, "Most college buildings and university spaces are being used as quarantine centres. It is not possible to conduct examinations in such a crucial situation."