The Odisha government on Thursday cancelled the final semester examinations of undergraduate and postgraduate examinations in view of the rising Covid-19 cases.
Higher education minister Arun Sahu said the decision was taken after a meeting with vice-chancellors of all state-run universities and principals of all government and aided colleges.
“Considering the COVID-19 situation, it will be difficult to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines while conducting the exams. As the Covid guidelines cannot be modified it was decided that all pending theory and practical examinations of the UG and PG streams will be cancelled. All state-run universities and autonomous colleges will announce the results by end of August after evaluating the papers as per UGC guidelines,” said Sahoo.
The minister said students will be awarded marks through alternative evaluation. Internal marks will be awarded on the basis of prescribed weightage and the average marks obtained in all previous semesters/years in that subject.
He said if any students are not satisfied with the marks awarded to them through alternative evaluation and demand more marks, the universities and autonomous colleges will conduct their examination by November and announce revised results in December.
Three days ago, the students of Rama Devi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar had launched a campaign demanding cancellation of their sixth semester examination which was scheduled to be held on June 25. The students alleged that there is a risk of getting infected in the examination halls.
