Maharashtra will not conduct final year exams for non-professional courses

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Friday announced that exams for non-professional courses across all state universities would not be conducted unless students opt for them. This again sets the state government on collision course with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who has earlier said that he retained the right to take a final call on exams being the Chancellor of the state universities.

The state government’s move, announced by minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant on Friday, would mean that the final year exams of students pursuing courses like BA, BSc and BCom would not be conducted.

“Students from non-professional courses have to give it in writing to the university on whether they want to appear for the exams or not. Those who don’t want to appear for the exams would be promoted based on their previous semester’s performance. Those who wish to appear, the affiliated university would then announce the schedule of the exams,” said Samant addressing the state via Facebook live.


According to government officials, while Koshyari as the Chancellor has the power to take decisions regarding universities, the Maharashtra government can annull the examinations under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. Minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted the GR and wrote that “no university can force a student to appear for exams for non-professional courses as of now.”

For professional courses such as law, engineering, architecture, hotel management and pharmacy, the state government has written to individual exam councils like AICTE, Council of Architecture and the Bar Council of India requesting them to promote students by accounting for students aggregate marks to avoid holding exams.

“The situation in Maharashtra is not conducive to hold examinations, we will decide our further course based on their response,” said the minister.
There is still no clarity on the final year students who have not cleared a few of their papers (Allowed To Keep Term). Samant said that a decision on these students would be taken in the next few days. The Maharashtra government is not keen on holding examinations as it believes that there are chances of infection spreading among the students