Numerous students returned to colleges after over three months as three State universities went ahead with their plan to commence final-year examinations for undergraduate courses on Monday. The examinations are being held despite a section of the student community clamouring for their postponement or cancellation in view of the COVID-19 situation.
The students of the colleges affiliated to Kerala University, Mahatma Gandhi and Calicut University flocked to the examination centres in sizeable numbers from as early as 7.30 a.m.
Adhering to the COVID-19 protocol, the colleges permitted entry for students into the campuses after conducting temperature checks using thermal scanners. Thwarting any possibility of students huddling together, faculty members took the responsibility of crowd management upon themselves.
Suma S., Associate Professor and college union adviser in the Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, said examination rooms were allotted to groups of 20 to 22 students to ensure adequate spacing. Primary and secondary contacts of COVID-19 patients, who have been undergoing quarantine, have been allotted separate rooms.
The police intervened in certain areas to prevent gatherings by the parents of the examinees outside the educational institutions.
The universities have scheduled their examinations in a staggered manner to minimise the possibility of crowding. While examinations of BCom, BSc and BBA courses will be held from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., BA examinations will be conducted from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
With the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) yet to resume their services in full swing, several students reached colleges much earlier than their reporting time. Rahul P., a college-goer hailing from Vithura, said the lack of bus services prompted many students to rely on the few buses that plied along the routes.
To alleviate the woes of such students, the universities had permitted them to opt for examination centres close to their native places. Centres were also identified outside their jurisdictions. Kerala University, for one, is conducting the examinations in 11 examinations outside its jurisdiction that stretches up to Alappuzha. But, not all students have availed the facility.
The postgraduate examinations in these universities will commence on June 29. The distance education and regular examinations of the Kannur University will get under way on June 29 and June 30 respectively.
Many students had taken to social networking platforms to urge Higher Education Minister R. Bindu and the universities to defer the examinations. The Congress had joined the issue with Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan raising a similar demand.
Shashi Tharoor, MP, also petitioned Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan twice, but to no avail.
