Maharshtra minister for higher and technical education, Uday Samant, on Monday interacted with all state university vice chancellors through a video call in order to clear any queries regarding the examination session. One of the officials attending the virtual meeting on Monday said, “The minister urged all heads of universities to release a fresh exam schedule, as plan B for whenever the lockdown is lifted. This means we have to keep more than one exam schedule ready, for, if the lockdown does not end on April 14, then we need another schedule for the examination.”

Samant also inquired about the various techniques adopted by departments and institutes to ensure completion of the portion. Abhay Wagh, director, state Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) said, “We put together a set of mobile and computer applications that could be used by all polytechnic and technical institutes in order to ensure that students are not at loss and their education is not affected. The application also checks attendance of teachers and teaching content everyday for transparency purposes.”

Apart from curriculum and examination, Samant also urged universities to set up think-tank labs in their respective universities to help solve the coronavirus crisis – “University of Mumbai recently launched a helpline for their students and the minister has urged more universities to follow suit and reach out to more students in these times of crisis,” another official said.

Also read: Decision on reopening schools, colleges on April 14 after reviewing Covid-19 situation: MHRD

Source: Hindusthan Times