ITANAGAR, Jul 21: The North East Students’ Organization (NESO) has written to the governor, appealing to his office to strongly pursue with the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) for cancellation of the final semester exams in Arunachal, “considering the current situation in the state and the risks involved.”
The NESO highlighted that “most final semester students from Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh, are not ready to appear the exams due to fear of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state, especially in the capital complex and its surrounding areas in which the lone central university is located.”
It also said that the months of lockdown, including the current Itanagar capital region lockdown, which also includes Doimukh area, “has severely affected the mental and emotional wellbeing of the students.”
“While many of the offices, schools, factories, public places, etc, are closed, we don’t find any merit in conducting exams for the final semester students in the universities,” it said.
The NESO also informed that many students are at their native places, effectively following the lockdown and other measures, and that making the exams mandatory would compel them to come out of their houses and travel, thereby increasing the chances of exposure.
“Any large-scale outbreak of Covid-19 cases resulting from the final semester students appearing for exams across the state shall be disastrous for us and greatly undo the current efforts put in by the frontline workers in the state,” it said.
The NESO also said that “the other state universities in Arunachal Pradesh are also unsure about the exams and many of our students studying in these universities are against the move of the MHRD and UGC to push for exams during such serious health crisis which has affected the entire nation.”
The UGC in its latest guidelines has said that universities must conduct their final year/final semester exams before 30 September this year.
