BENGALURU: A task force committee has suggested to higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan that as a one-time measure, to promote all students, other than those in the final semester, to the next semester.
As per the regular academic calendar so far, university exams for undergraduates begin from April 27 and for post-graduates from May 8.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has already constituted an expert committee to look into the examinations and the academic calendar, keeping COVID-19 in mind. The UGC’s recommendations will be adopted, said SA Kori, executive director, Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), in a note to DyCM Narayan.
This committee, which was constituted on directions of the minister, also suggested that all students be counselled after classes restart to help them cope with COVID-19 related issues. The committee is headed by SV Ranganath, vice-chairman, KSHEC.
The committee apprised the minister that all universities can conduct examinations during the second week of May 2020, if the lockdown is lifted. The committee interacted with the vice-chancellors of 39 universities in the state and learnt that even as 80-90% of universities already started online classes, some of the VCs said that these classes were insufficient to complete the curriculum effectively.“A minimum of four to six weeks time is required to supplement online classes with regular classes to complete the syllabus after the lockdown is lifted,” the V-Cs said.