CHENNAI: College students have welcomed the government's decision to promote them without conducting semester examinations.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday cancelled the April-May 2020 semester examinations, except for students in their final year of education. Details are expected on when final semester exams will be conducted.
The state government had constituted a high-level 11-member committee to make decisions about the exams, based on University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recommendations.
Following this, the government cancelled the even semester exams for the following students and promoted them to the next academic year: first and second year undergraduate and first year postgraduate students studying in arts and science colleges, first, second and third year undergraduate and first year postgraduate students studying in engineering colleges and first year MCA students.
The government said that further details will be announced later. Students are awaiting information on when and how final semester examinations will be conducted.
It is expected that colleges will be asked to use internal assessments to evaluate students in place of the cancelled semester examinations and that final year students will have to write the exams online. However, a final announcement is yet to be made on this.
Anna University has been mulling conducting the exams online. A senior official from the varsity said that a decision will be taken after considering the feasibility. The official further added that the varsity is waiting for the state government's decision on the matter.
Students are happy with the government's decision. Many left for their hometowns in a jiffy when the lockdown was announced thinking that it would last only a couple of weeks like in European countries. "Many of us left our books behind at the hostel and we do not have sufficient access to the internet in our hometowns," said a third year student from Anna University, Guindy campus.
A final year student from a private engineering college in the city told The New Indian Express that she had to leave for Kerala at the beginning of the lockdown. "The government should ensure that we are transported safely to write our exams and that we have a place to stay before announcing semester exams. Otherwise they should cancel the exams for us as well," she said.