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Karnataka govt asks universities to conduct exams for final year students by Sept-end

In the wake of pandemic, classroom teaching at the universities may begin from 1 October, the state govt said

Graduation, post-graduation exams only for final semester in Karnataka; intermediate semester students to be promoted based on a comprehensive evaluation scheme.

New Delhi: Karnataka government on Friday asked all state public and private universities to complete the examinations for final year students by end of September 2020. Graduation and post-graduation exams will be conducted only for final semester in Karnataka while intermediate semester students will be promoted based on a comprehensive evaluation scheme.

"The universities coming under the purview of Higher Education Department are required to complete the examinations for final year students by end of September 2020 in offline/online/blended (offline + online) mode following protocols related to Covid-19 pandemic," said Karnataka government in its latest directive. This is a one-time measure, the statement said.

However, the government clarified that the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET)- 2020 examination for admissions to Engineering, Pharmacy, Pharma D and other courses will be held on the decided dates of July 30 and 31.

The government reasoned that it was important to conduct these exams as they would have a bearing on the future of these students. The state government had just concluded conducting the exams for around 8.5 lakh Class 10 students.

The state government also said next academic session in the universities will be through online classes tentatively from 1 September, 2020.

Classroom teaching may begin from 1 October or as may be directed by state government/MHA/UGC guidelines, the state government said.

“Intermediate semester students will be assessed based on a comprehensive evaluation scheme with internal assessment marks and previous year’s/semester’s marks considered in a 50:50 ratio. For students in their first semester/year, the evaluation will be completely based on internal assessment marks," the release further said.

If students feel they can better their grades will be provided with an opportunity to face exams during the next semester and students who fail to succeed in the comprehensive evaluation process shall face examinations for respective subjects in the next semester.

The government has taken this decision to promote students after consulting educationists and university vice chancellors, taking into consideration students’ health, well- being and future, also UGC guidelines have also been duly taken into account, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan’s office said in a release.

"COVID-19 has disrupted the education system - classes could not be held on time. Online learning introduced during the lockdown has received good responses and the government promptly tried its best to reach the last person in the chain," Narayan said.

Stating that the government mulled conducting offline classes and examinations too, he said, "but owing to the increase in the viral spread those thoughts have been dropped and it has been decided to pass and promote all intermediate semester students. Concerned Universities have been intimated to conduct examinations for all the final year/ semester students."

The Deputy Chief Minister said intermediate semester students will be assessed based on a comprehensive evaluation scheme with internal assessment marks and previous year’s/ semester’s marks considered in a 50:50 ratio, and for students in their first semester/year, the evaluation will be completely based on internal assessment marks.

If students feel to better their scores, provisions will be made for them to face examinations during the next semester and students who fail to succeed in the comprehensive evaluation process shall face examinations for respective subjects during the next semester, he said adding that backlog subjects will be allowed to be carried over as well.

Further noting that the final semester exams will be conducted with due consideration given to students’ academic evaluation and their future lives, Narayan said academic evaluation forms the core of the higher education system and hence academic performance of students needs to be considered.

"Companies too will base their assessments on an individual student’s academic excellence and grades he/she secured. Thus, it would be pushing the students to danger in the future if examinations were not to be conducted now," he said.

All universities have been informed to prepare themselves and make suitable arrangements for the conduct of final semester examinations, he added.

The total number of Covid-19 infections in Karnataka on Thursday breached the 30,000-mark as the state reported its biggest single day spike of over 2,200 new cases and 17 related fatalities, taking the death toll to 486, the Health department said.

The day also saw a record 957 patients getting discharged after recovery, out of which 606 were from Bengaluru Urban.

Out of the 2,228 fresh cases reported on Thursday, a whopping 1,373 were from Bengaluru Urban alone.

With inputs from PTI