UGC allows universities to hold in-person exams in pandemic

The University Grants Commission has allowed the public universities to hold the honours and master’s final exams in person or online after more than a year of shutdown due to the pandemic.

The authorities issued a letter on Friday asking the public universities to take necessary measures to hold online and in-person exams following the approval from the academic council of each university.

The universities have also been asked to follow guidelines issued by the UGC on Dec 22. The notice also asks the universities to prioritise students studying in the final semester. All dormitories must remain closed.

Earlier, the UGC ordered the public universities on May 6 to hold the honours and master’s final exams online.

"A university can also hold in-person examinations adhering to the health rules to avoid session logjam, if deemed necessary,” UGC official Sazzad Hossian said.

The government in March announced that the universities would be allowed to reopen on May 24. The universities were told at the time that they would continue online classes until then, but cannot hold exams.

A second wave of coronavirus infections, however, put on hold the plan to resume in-person classes and exams.

The grim reality has thrown into uncertainty the future of hundreds of thousands of students of 49 public universities who could not take final exams of two semesters.

Education Minister Dipu Moni hopes that all secondary and higher secondary schools will reopen on Jun 13 if the COVID-19 situation across the country improves.

But the ministry has not yet decided to reopen universities as the government has a plan to vaccinate students from all residential public universities in Bangladesh.