New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS): The Supreme Court has ruled that final-year examinations in the universities will be held in September as it upheld the UGC circular for conducting the examinations by September 30.

The apex court's decision has been welcomed by Professor R.C. Kuhar, Chairman of the UGC's expert committee that decides the rules of university examinations. He is also Vice Chancellor of Haryana Central University.

The UGC committee has worked out a solution on how to conduct examinations in all universities across the country and how and when to start the new session of universities amid the coronavirus crisis and lockdown.

Prof Kuhar told IANS, "Keeping in mind the future and career of the students, we emphasised that it is imperative to hold the exams because the acceptance of the degree obtained through the examinations is at the global level. The Supreme Court, while keeping in mind this basic sentiment, has underlined the importance of examinations."

Prof Kuhar said, "As far as health and safety amid the pandemic is concerned, whether it is the entrance examination of NEET and JEE or the final-year and semester main examinations of universities and other higher educational institutions, the government and educational institutions are determined to take all necessary measures for safety. Our committee has also recommended that educational institutions should pay special attention at their level in this regard."

If the examinations of final-year students are not conducted in colleges, the UGC will not recognise their degrees. In view of this decision of the UGC, so far more than 600 universities have agreed to conduct final-year examinations.

So far, 818 universities have sent their replies to the UGC regarding the examinations. In their replies, 209 different universities across the country said that they have successfully completed the examinations in their institutions as per the UGC guidelines.

Apart from these, 394 other universities are preparing for the exams in August and September with online, offline and mixed resources. Almost all central universities across the country have given their consent for the final-year exams.

The UGC said "There have been positive responses from 51 central universities on the guidelines set for the examinations of universities on July 6. Many of these universities have completed final-year and final-semester online examinations while the remaining central universities have assured to get these examinations done before September 30."