Despite the University of Hyderabad already implementing an alternate evaluation mechanism and releasing the results, it has announced that it will conduct the final semester exams as directed by the Supreme Court. The results that the administration had earlier released to the students will now remain cancelled, the VC said in an open letter to the University community.The final semester exams for postgraduate students will commence online from September 16, a release said.
The decision was announced after a meeting of a high-level committee headed by the two PRO VCs yesterday, followed by a discussion with the Heads of Departments and Deans of School. The VC, Appa Rao Podile said that the University was compelled to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court and uphold the guidelines of the UGC to declare results only after conducting the end-semester exams for final semester students. Those students who are unable to attend the exams would be given an opportunity to appear in the second spell of exams for October 5, the University said.
"It may be recalled that in June the University had adopted an alternative evaluation mechanism based on continuous assessment and the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and announced results for the batch in order to facilitate their graduation so that they could pursue further education or career opportunities. Those results will now stand cancelled," the administration announced.
In an open letter to the University Committee, Podile said, "We had done this (announced results earlier with alternate grading) in the best interests of students and kept MHRD and UGC fully informed. However, the insistence of regulatory authorities that exams must be conducted and, last week, the Supreme Court’s judgement directing educational institutions to hold end-semester exams for the graduating batch leaves us with no option but to reverse our earlier decision." The VC said that the earlier decision was taken so as to allow the students to graduate on time and pursue jobs or other academic plans in their field.
Podile said in his letter that he understood that there are many logistical issues since students are now residing in different parts of the country. However, he said that the management was worried that the students might in the future face issues in their careers if their degrees are invalidated by regulatory authorities, "Let me assure you that the University administration, along with the academic leadership of various units, will come up with a range of flexible options for the online examination and see that we minimise the pain that this may cause students. After the decisive order by the Supreme Court, the real possibility of the degrees being invalidated by regulatory authorities, without the final exam being conducted, is too great a risk to the future of hundreds of students that the University is unwilling to hazard."
"Please treat this as a course correction that the University is compelled to make for the benefit of our students who are among the best in the country and to ensure their bright futures," the VC told the students in his letter.
