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The Plight of India's University Students

Edited by, Lauren Huye

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Indian students whom had studied abroad to the UK await in lines to aboard a plane before their visa expires. © Ashwin Prasath, EPS

The University Grants Commission, (UGC), of India posted a newsletter and stated that ”The universities are required to complete any and all examinations by the end of September, 2020 in offline (pen & paper)/online/ blended (online + offline) modes following the prescribed protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” This is regarding the examinations for the terminal semester and final semester. However, according to the guidelines of the UGC, the Supreme Court declared that no student can be promoted by a university without the final year or terminal semester examinations. The court also said that the universities should conduct the exams by September 30, with addition of how any State or Union Territory of India, well within its jurisdiction, cannot conduct the exams under the Disaster Management Act, and thus cannot conduct the exams by September 30, then they can approach the UGC to extend the deadline. While India's government may focus upon their educational exams, they stray farther away from that thrust upon their students.


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A student protests against India's approach to the COVID-19 pandemic within regards towards education. ©AFP


State Governments


On Monday, the 31st of August, Mr. Samant, who heads Higher and Technical Education department in Mumbai, Maharashtra, had said that majority of the 13 non-agriculture universities in Maharashtra have urged the state government to seek an extension to hold the final year examinations and announce results by October 31. All the universities of India have agreed with Mr. Samant that it will not be safe for the students to attend classes offline.

Odisha government has decided to complete all the final semester examinations of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in varsities by September 30 and announce results before October 31 as per the UGC guideline. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of vice-chancellors and principals through video conference on 31st Aug, Monday. The state government of Odisha has now requested the UGC to extend the last date to conduct the exams from 30th September to 10th October.

Many other states are also urging the UGC to postpone the last date of the final examinations.


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Distressed students within the Philippines await for transportation back to India.

©The Tribune


Issues Students will Face


The students have so far been safe at home. Many students do not stay in the city or state where their university is located. There are many students coming to India from other countries to study. It is highly risky for these students to travel to their universities from a different place with the number of COVID cases increasing day by day. Students who reside in PG (paying guest) houses and hostels and college dorms will not be able to find a place to stay, since all these housing institutions have been closed due to the pandemic.

The Universities may not be able to take the appropriate measures to ensure the safety of all the students. The government is not willing to take the responsibility of the students and their health and well-being.


There is also an issue with conducting online classes. This method of education may be feasible for students living in the urban areas, but the same cannot be said for the students in the rural areas. About 67% of the 1.3 billion people of India reside in these rural areas. There are many places such as these that do not have the appropriate technology infrastructure to enable internet connectivity. In the past few months, almost 60-70% of the syllabus was covered online and not a lot of students were able to attend the classes throughout the country. This would be greatly disadvantageous to these students from the rural areas.


Many states in India have gone ahead and cancelled the quarantine period and the compulsion of COVID testing for inter-state travels. This puts all the students at risk. If a student who is COVID positive attends the exam, there is a chance of contagion.

There are links below to sign petitions regarding the current situation the University students are facing.






To fight against the injustices presented towards India's students, we've researched the most reliable petitions for you to participate in, now all you have to do is sign them.


Citations:

  1. University Grants Commission, India. "Notices at UG". doi: https://www.ugc.ac.in/ugc_notices.aspx?id=Mjg3Mg==

  2. Press trust of India, Source: PTI. "Maharashtra Minister Meets Governor To Discuss Final Year University Exams". 2, September 2020. doi: https://www.scribbr.com/mla/journal-citation/#:~:text=An%20MLA%20Works%20Cited%20entry,Author%20last%20name%2C%20first%20name.

  3. Pradhan, Hemanth. "Odisha govt urges UGC to extend UG, PG final exams deadline." Times of India. 3, September 2020. doi: https://m.timesofindia.com/home/education/news/odisha-govt-urges-ugc-to-extend-ug-pg-final-exams-deadline/articleshow/77902577.cms

  4. India TV News Desk. "Final semester exams to be held by Sept 30 as per UGC guidelines: Odisha govt." India TV News. 2, September 2020. doi: https://www.indiatvnews.com/education/higher-studies-final-semester-exams-september-30-ugc-guidelines-odisha-ug-pg-exams-646553




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