Govt. defends cancellation of arrear examinations

The State authorities has justified its choice to cancel the arrear examinations of arts, science, engineering and MCA college students, aside from these within the ultimate yr. When semester and annual examinations have been cancelled on account of COVID-19, it’s however pure to cancel arrear examinations too, it reasoned.

In a counter-affidavit filed earlier than a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha of the Madras High Court, the federal government mentioned it had cancelled the arrear examinations, too, this yr to keep away from discrimination between “regular and arrear students” and to desist from creating “inequality among equals”.

Allaying the apprehension of Anna University former Vice-Chancellor E. Balagurusamy, who had filed a public curiosity litigation petition towards the cancellation, the federal government claimed that the cancellation would neither deliver down educational requirements nor demoralise benefit college students.

The authorities mentioned Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami introduced the choice to cancel the arrear examinations solely after consulting the schools. The choice didn’t violate any of the rules issued by the University Grants Commission in addition to the All-India Council for Technical Education.

M. Ilango Henry Dass, Joint Secretary, Higher Education Department, filed the counter-affidavit earlier than the courtroom on behalf of the Principal Secretary.

“Students have been traumatised by this deadly virus when they witness the toll taken by the virus on their kith and kin and even more when they themselves contract the infection. COVID-19 has been overwhelming coming upon as wave after wave in its relentless attack on humanity. In the first wave, the department… sent home the resident students and hostels were closed. Students staying in accommodations outside campus were also advised to return to their hometowns,” the counter learn.

When the lockdown was prolonged, some college students bought stranded with out meals they usually needed to be supplied free rations, the courtroom was instructed. “With poverty being the major fallout of this pandemic, the student population has not been spared its wrath. Parents of students lost employment and could not help their children who were in distress. Students staying in low-cost accommodation were sent out by house owners overnight and had no place to go and their families could not reach them with the help required,” the federal government mentioned.

Further stating that the majority of the scholars had left behind their textbooks, notebooks and laptops of their hostels and that the latter stay inaccessible to them until date as a result of many schools have been initially utilized by the federal government as shelters for migrant labourers and later as COVID-19 quarantine centres, the Higher Education division mentioned and added that it had determined to cancel the arrear examinations too solely after taking all these points into consideration.

The authorities identified to the courtroom that the rules issued by the UGC throughout the pandemic didn’t state something with regard to the conduct of arrear examinations.