OU may hold its sem exams in mid-June

Registrar says things will be final after Centre gives clear picture

Osmania University is preparing to hold semester exams for undergraduate students in the second week of June tentatively, registrar Dr Ch Gopal Reddy said on Tuesday. Postgraduate exams will commence in July, said Dr Sriram Venkatesh, OU Controller of Examinations. He said the official notification for degree exams will be issued in the next two to three days.

Students had been concerned about the exam schedule ever since the University Grants Commission guidelines were announced in April. A B.Com second year student said they had been trying to contact the OU authorities to get some clarity on the exam schedule but no one had responded.

“The lockdown has added to our stress right now. There is a bridge between the students and the authorities. We want to know some details about the future course of action, so we can prepare accordingly,” said another student.

Asked about these concerns, registrar Gopal Reddy confirmed to

Deccan Chronicle that exams could be held in the second week of June, adding that this is only a tentative plan. “We will finalise anything only after a clear picture emerges of the lockdown situation from the Centre and the state government.”

“We will not conduct online exams since a large population of students belong to rural

areas. It will not be easy for them to access the Internet or the infrastructure to appear for online examinations. This is a tentative plan, but we are preparing to hold the semester exams soon, said Dr Reddy.

On whether the schedule had been decided on the reopening of the university and the commencement of a new session,

owing to the UGC guidelines, Dr Reddy said that the guidelines are of an advisory nature. “We will monitor the situation and the possibilities of the complete lifting of the lockdown across the country. Nothing has been decided on the new session by the internal committee at the university yet,” he said.