The government is toying with the idea of doing away with the detention system for first and second year degree students this year and promote them to higher classes with academic days getting lost due to lockdown.
The exams will be held whenever the situation eases but the first and second year students will get automatic promotion to the next year even if they don’t secure the mandatory credits. “We don’t want to burden students in the unpredictable situation now and are contemplating removing detention system for this year,” the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) chairman, T. Papi Reddy told The Hindu .
This is not automatic promotion, but easing pressure on them. However, they have to clear the backlogs next year as they do by appearing in the supplementary exams. First priority for conducting the exams will be for final year students as they have multiple plans like appearing for national-level entrance exams for various universities. Exams for PG courses will not be a problem as their numbers are less compared to a few lakhs in the degree courses.
If the situation worsens and lockdown is further extended officials are also considering conducting the exams with truncated syllabus. A senior professor with huge experience in the examination system said that either the academic year has to be extended, which looks unlikely, or simply conduct the exams with truncated syllabus so as to save the academic year.
The argument is, even if the lockdown is relaxed after May 3 opening the colleges and universities is highly unlikely as that would bring thousands of students on to the campuses. The varsities and colleges will not be in a position to ensure social distancing and the closure of colleges for some more time looks the only option. So, focus will be on exams for degree final year students and final year PG students. As per the almanac of the universities in Telangana, exams for the post-graduate second year students have to start in May as they complete their syllabus in April. The first year exams are held a little later.
By now most colleges have completed 70% to 80% of the syllabus and the remaining will be completed online though there are some practical issues with connectivity, particularly for the rural students. Moreover, majority of the students and faculty are not tuned to online teaching and learning. Though the TSCHE is encouraging the varsities to go for online classes, conducting the exams online is not the option now given the feasibility factor.
