Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday urged the Centre to give States the freedom to work out their “own assessment methods” for the final semester examinations “without compromising on quality and academic credibility”.
In a letter to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, he said several States had decided not to hold final semester examinations. He said States must be allowed to employ their “own assessment methods to ensure career opportunities and future prospects and simultaneously safeguard the principles of health, safety and fair and equal opportunity for students”.
He urged the Union Minister to direct the respective apex bodies like the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Council of Architecture (COA), the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology to endorse the decisions of the respective State governments, which would have been taken based on local conditions.
“This would go a long way in rendering justice and fairness to parents and students during these distressful times,” he said.
Mr. Palaniswami made it clear that the States would not be in a position to conduct examinations even after waiting till September 2020, since most of the government and private arts and science and engineering colleges, polytechnics and other institutions of higher learning (including their hostels, classrooms etc.) in the State had been converted into COVID Care Centres for housing asymptomatic patients under quarantine, and may continue to remain that way for quite some time.
The Chief Minister said the new guidelines mandating the State governments to conduct the examinations in September entailed many constraints and difficulties, especially with regard to the ability of students to reach the examination centres, as many of them were residing outside their respective districts, States or even the country.
“It is also not feasible to conduct online examinations, considering the various issues relating to digital access among students,” he said.
Published - July 11, 2020 11:59 pm IST
