UGC Guidelines: Supreme Court says final year exams are mandatory but states can request deadline extension

• The Supreme Court of India has ruled that final year exams for Indian students are ‘mandatory’.
  
• According to India’s top court, states do not have the permission to promote students without holding final year exams first.
  
• However, states can appeal to extend the deadline beyond September 30.
  

The Supreme Court of India has ordered that final year exams are necessary for students in India. While states will have the option to extend the deadline beyond the prescribed September 30, they cannot promote students without a final year assessment.

In order to conduct the exams after September, the states can file a request with the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan has upheld the July 6 circular of the UGC to hold the final year exams

Here are the highlights of what Supreme Court has said:

• States must hold exams to promote students.
  
• Students cannot be promoted without final year exams, but states can approach the UGC to postpone examinations because of COVID-19
  
• The decision of State Disaster Management Authority to postpone the exams will prevail over the UGC guidelines
  
• States under Disaster management Act can postpone exams in view of pandemic & can consult UGC to fix dates

This comes at a time when the clamour over postponement of JEE-NEET exams is growing louder. Recently the Supreme Court had ordered that the exams will take place in September. This decision has triggered a debate across the country among students, educational institutions and politicians. However, the Education Ministry stands tough on their decision to conduct the NEET-JEE exams. Yesterday, the Education Minister claimed that the students want the exams to be held at any cost.

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