After MHA, UGC diktat, SFI submits memorandum to the MHRD as a 'last resort' to get online exams cancelled

Condemning the recent decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the University Grants Commission that permitted the universities to conduct the final year examinations, the SFI's Delhi unit on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The memorandum explains the situations in the premier universities in the capital — University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University, what it means for the students and suggests plausible alternatives.

Through the memorandum, the student political organisation asks the MHA and the UGC to withdraw their circular that permits the conduct of examinations. It also asks these bodies to consider an alternative evaluation scheme. "The COVID cases in the city are rapidly increasing and thus the possibility of a risk-free offline examination in September looks bleak. Amidst this uncertainty, the so-called option of an online examination now and offline examination in September looks like a farce," it reads.

"These circular expose the nexus between the university administrations in DU, JNU, the UGC and the Central Government to create a situation where exams are conducted without prior preparedness and which neglects the material conditions of the students and their mental well-being," the organisation says in a statement. "The university can make an evaluation scheme which has 2 components, namely, the average of the marks received by the students in a particular subject (in the previous 5 semesters for UG, and previous 3 semesters for PG), and the internal assessments taken before the lockdown. The SFI and DUTA had proposed that these two components can have a weightage of 75% and 25% respectively in the tabulation of the terminal semester marks," it says.

The SFI Delhi President Pritish Menon tells Edexlive that the members of SFI will most likely meet the MHRD Secretary on Wednesday. "This is our last resort. We hope that at least if we explain the issue to him, the ministry will take a decision in the students' favour," he says.