UGC asks universities, colleges to not conduct offline exams in May; issues COVID-19 guidelines

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has requested the higher education institutions in the country to temporarily suspend all the offline examinations to be held in May. In this regard, a letter has been issued by UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain. The letter has been addressed to all the Vice-Chancellors of the universities and Principals of the colleges. The requisition has been made so that social distancing can be maintained in view of the rising coronavirus cases in the country and to provide relief to students, faculty, and staff during the pandemic. The letter also praised the institutions for taking the best possible measures to contain the virus and to ensure the safety of everyone at their campuses. The secretary has advised the universities and institutes to conduct the online examination after reviewing the local conditions and after making sure that they are prepared to follow all the advisories, guidelines and directions issued both by the central as well as the state government. Further, regarding the offline exams, institutions have been advised to take stock of the situation next month and decide accordingly. In another letter issued by the UGC Chairman Prof D P Singh, higher institutions have been requested to undertake the following measures to control the spread of coronavirus:

1.       Constituting COVID task force and helplines
2.       Promoting COVID appropriate behaviour in their campuses including wearing masks, proper sanitization, following social distancing, etc
3.       Arranging counsellors and mentors to address the mental health issues
4.       Motivating everyone to be physically and mentally active
5.       Promoting the vaccination drive
6.       Constituting a team of trained volunteers including both NCC and NSS candidates
7.  Encouraging stakeholders to be a part of vaccination drives
8. Taking suitable measures for students, staff, teachers, officers, and stakeholder