New Delhi, Jul 7 (IANS): Ending all speculation over the holding of university examinations, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said the UGC has changed its earlier guidelines for university examinations.

These changes were made in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Health ministry keeping in mind the safety, future, progress and placement of the students.

The HRD ministry believes that students' performance in university examinations helps them get admission to the higher educational institutions, providing scholarships and awards and getting better jobs. Hence, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the HRD ministry rejected the demand to cancel the examinations.

For holding examinations in universities, Nishank said, "Better performance in examinations gives students more confidence and satisfaction and also ensures qualification, lifetime reliability and wide global acceptance."

Many student bodies and teachers' organizations in universities have opposed these exams.

Sharing information, Nishank said, "Final year students who have a backlog should be evaluated by conducting exams offline or online with pen and paper keeping in view the probability and suitability. If due to any reason a final year student is unable to appear in the examination conducted by the university, then he/she would be given an opportunity to appear in special examinations for such paper."

The UGC in its new recommendation proposes to protect the academic interests of terminal semester and final year students globally by conducting examinations in offline mode (by pen and paper) or online by the end of September 2020.

According to the UGC, the special examinations can be conducted by the university whenever possible so that the students do not face any inconvenience or loss. This provision will only be applicable as a one-time measure for the current academic session 2019-20.