The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday called out fake news doing rounds on various platforms regarding examination guidelines. The commission put out a statement on Tuesday and clarified that it has not issued any new guidelines regarding the conduction of university examinations amid the current pandemic situation and busted such reports in the media.
"In view of the news circulating in print and digital media, it is clarified that UGC has not yet issued any guidelines on examination recently and the news is incorrect," read the official announcement.
Edex found a Moneycontrol report on May 11 written in Hindi, which claimed that the UGC had released guidelines stating that the students across universities will be promoted without exams except for the final year students due to the Coronavirus pandemic crisis. It further went on to say that universities such as Allahabad University have already begun preparing to promote their students apart from the ones in the final year.
Refuting the claims, the UGC wrote in its recent notification, "It has come to the commission’s notice that incorrect news regarding UGC guidelines on examination has been published in some print and digital media. UGC had issued guidelines on examination and academic calendar from time to time during last year. Further, the UGC notification issued on May 6 has requested the universities to keep the offline exams in abeyance during the month of May 2021."
Apart from this, the UGC had advised all higher education institutes (HEIs) to constitute a COVID task force and helplines to aid students and teachers amid the ongoing pandemic. The varsities have been directed to promote COVID appropriate behaviour including sanitisation, wearing masks, washing hands with soap and maintaining social distancing.
The UGC had earlier asked all higher educational institutes to not conduct any offline exams in May 2021. The commission had released a circular regarding the announcement on its official website earlier. The HEIs are also advised to assess the local conditions for conducting online exams. Any new guidelines for the varsity exams will be communicated by UGC itself and through its official website or social media handles.
