Maharashtra Final Year Exams: Kabhi haan, kabhi na leave students confused - who said what, complete timeline

Maharashtra Final year exams: Complete timeline of events  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

It’s a classic case of Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Na, when it comes to Mumbai University examinations as decision on Maharashtra Final year exams remains a moot point. University exams have quickly escalated from an academic dilemma to a political debate in the state with students waiting for a definitive answer.

After a long wait, CMO on June 1 sent out the decision to cancel the final year examinations in Maharashtra. Joy, however, was short-lived as the Governor called the decision as arbitrary and said that decision would have to be as per Maharashtra Universities Act. As decision on whether the exams would be conducted or not – here is a timeline of Maharashtra Universities final year exams.

Maharashtra University Exams: Who said what – complete timeline of events

March 24: A national lockdown was announced by PM Narendra Modi due to outbreak of Coronavirus in the country. As per the subsequent guidelines released by Ministry of Home Affairs, all the university (and other) exams were deferred or postponed till further notice.

April 1, 2020: Mumbai University released a notice postponing the examinations for the varsity. The varsity announced University Interim Vacation from April 1 to April 14. It further shared it’s intent to conduct the examinations soon after the lockdown was to end on April 14. As for the other university, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University and Savitri Bai Phule (Pune) University also announced vacation from March 15 to April 30. These colleges rescheduled dates for examination as well.

April 17, 2020: Mumbai University extended the summer vacations till May 3 as the lockdown in the country was extended. Other varsities continued to remain closed. In the meanwhile, cases in Maharashtra continued to rise steadily.

April 30, 2020: UGC Examination Guidelines 2020 are released in relation to the special circumstances due to COVID19. The apex body laid out the path for varsities across India to adapt alternative means of evaluation and examinations for intermediate semesters. As for the final year students, UGC proposed examinations to be conducted from July 1 to July 15.

May 8, 2020: Mumbai University released the notice regarding its decision to cancel the examinations for all but the final year students. Education Minister, Uday Samant confirmed the news, stating that only the final semester students would be appearing for the examinations, which would be conducted from July 1 to July 30. Rest of the students would be promoted on the basis of the internal assessments. SPPU, Pune University also postponed its application form filling process.

May 14, 2020: Final year students of Mumbai University started an online petition, seeking cancellation of the exams as COVID19 cases continued to rise in the state.

May 19, 2020: Maharashtra Students' Union, MASU wrote a letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray and Uday Samant, Higher and Technical Education Minister asking for the cancellation of the final year examination – demanding that average marks should be given to final year students. Following the letter, Uday Samant wrote a letter to the UGC, asking for the final year exams to be cancelled.

May 21, 2020: SPPU or Pune University announced its decision to conduct pen and paper based examinations for the final year students. The varsity also announced its decision to conduct the exam between July 1 to July 30, 2020. On May 26, it further shared its intent to conduct the exam on the full syllabus and not in parts. In the meanwhile, the chorus requesting for cancellation of Mumbai University final examinations continued to rise.

May 31, 2020: Maharashtra Government held a meeting. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reviews the situation and decided to cancel the final year examination. In a tweet, CMO shared that a meeting with various Vice Chancellors was help and the heads were of the opinion that the situation was not conducive for conducting the examinations. As such, the decision was taken to cancel the final year exams in Maharashtra Universities as well.

June 1, 2020: Following the announcement, ABVP demanded the Maharashtra Government to withdraw its decision to cancel the exams, accusing the government of double standards.

June 3, 2020: BS Koshrayi, Governor of Maharashtra rejected the proposal of the government to cancel the final year examinations. Calling the decision arbitrary and said that the decision ‘violated the basic principle that to obtain an identical degree there cannot be two sets of criteria for one who has obtained it through exams and for other who has obtained it through average marks’. He also highlighted that he was still waiting for the report of final analysis of the situation. He said that the exams may be conducted for final year students.

June 4, 2020: Maharashtra University of Health Sciences sought clarification from central council regarding the examinations. The decision was sought and permission to conduct the examination was granted. The statement to that effect was released which further stated - “The Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari, in his capacity as Chancellor of universities, today granted his permission to conduct all under-graduate and post-graduate examinations of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences(MUHS), as proposed by the University”.