CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced postponement of final semester exams in all the universities and colleges of the state till July 15.
He made the announcement while responding to concerns expressed by students and parents on the conduct of examinations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final decision on the subject will, however, be subject to the new directions/guidelines expected to be released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) any time, a state government release said.
Seeking to allay uncertainty on this count, Singh said the postponement till July 15 will also give all the stakeholders, especially the universities, time to adapt and align to the new guidelines that will come from the UGC.
The chief minister felt there was a need to remove confusion from the minds of students, teachers and parents regarding safe conduct of examinations, the release said.
Punjab's universities had taken a decision to conduct exams of exit classes in the month of July 2020, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the UGC on April 29.
The UGC had then announced that it would review the situation again.
However, the decision regarding academic activities, especially conduct of examinations, is still awaited from the UGC.
The chief minister has been repeatedly pointing out that since all the universities and colleges in Punjab are accredited/affiliated to the UGC, any decision on the exams can only be taken by the statutory body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.