There have been a number of speculations about the on-going semester. University students have been in a dilemma. With the outbreak of the coronavirus and the shut-down of universities all over the country, there are confusions about the examinations and the grading system. Students across the country are perplexed, wondering how their grading system would work. The more important question has been whether the semester examinations would take place or not.
All educational institutions have been shut down since March 15. The University of Delhi began with its week-long mid-semester break from March 9. The university was to reopen from March 16. However, it was declared that colleges would be shut till March 30 due to the outbreak of the virus. After that, the government declared a country-wide lockdown due to which all institutions remain suspended.
Because of the shut-down of educational institutions, the classes remained suspended. Although institutions took to online methods of teaching, students have been facing difficulty catching up with the syllabus. Moreover, the University of Delhi grants credit for attendance, which the online classes would not be able to provide. Recently, the UGC prescribed that all students would receive 100% attendance for the period of the lockdown.
The UGC had earlier recommended online examinations for this semester. The dean of the University of Delhi had opposed it. Moreover, the students of the university had also opposed the recommendation on grounds that it did not suit all students of the university.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) took to Twitter to declare that in case the current situation does not go back to normalcy any time soon, the focus would remain on social distancing, safety, and the health of university students and staff. The current semester would be graded based on the internal assessment and the previous semester in case conducting the semester examinations is not suitable or possible.
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grading could be a composite of 50% marks on the basis of the pattern of internal evaluation adopted by the universities and the remaining 50% marks on the basis of performance in the previous semester (if available).— Ministry of HRD (@HRDMinistry) May 5, 2020
This grading system would compose 50% marks based on internal assessment. The other 50% would be determined based on the result of the previous semester.
