TDC examinations scheduled from 5 May may be deferred if situation warrants: Assam University

April 26: The 11th Meeting (Special) of the Standing Committee of the Academic Council of Assam University was held on Monday in blended mode (both online & offline). The meeting was convened to take stock of the ongoing TDC (CBCS) Odd semester offline examinations of affiliated colleges of the varsity in the backdrop of the rising number of coronavirus cases.

The meeting chaired by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dilip Chandra Nath was attended by the Registrar Dr PK Nath, Controller of Examination Dr S.Dutta Roy, Director CDC i/c Dr. J. Bhattacharjee, faculty members of Assam University, representatives of Assam College Teachers’ Association & Principals of three affiliated colleges.

Expressing their views, the College Principals, except Dr Manoj Kumar Paul, Principal of Womens’ College & President of Assam College Principals’ Council (ACPC) also put forth the anxiety of the students and teachers in the wake of the spike in Covid cases among the students. The ACTA members while speaking to the media alleged that Dr. Manoj Kumar Paul was in favour of continuing the examination in offline mode.

On the other hand, the ACTA members who attended the meeting- Sudarshan Gupta, Chandan Paul Choudhury, Rajat Subhro Paul and Dr. Apratim Nag all echoed the concern of the students and teachers and argued in favour of postponing the rest of the exams from 27 April till the Covid situation normalises. Rajat Subhro Paul- Central Executive Committee Member of ACTA Hailakandi-Karimganj Zone informed that the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Controller of Examinations (COE) along with Dr Manoj Kumar Paul opined in favour of conducting the exam on 27 April in the ongoing offline mode.

Chandan Paul Choudhury, CEC Member of ACTA Cachar Zone informed way2barak that the decision of continuing the examination in offline mode is a suicidal attempt given the spike in the number of positive cases. He further said, “Issues were raised that any mishap could happen to anybody in normal course of action and only coronavirus could be blamed for raising health issues.” Mr Paul Choudhury said, “The threat of Covid-19 is not an unforeseen risk like that of any accident occuring all of a sudden. If we fail to understand the gravity of the situation and take a decision on the issue which could be foreseen, then we would fall a prey to the fallacy of ignoring the real risk factors.”

Finally, ignoring the concerns raised by the college teachers, the Standing Committee decided in favour of continuing the exam on 27 April as per the schedule in offline mode. It was, however, added that the Standing Committee of the Academic Council of Assam University will hold another review meeting on 3 April on the feasibility of holding Offline TDC Odd Semester Examinations of Affiliated Colleges of Assam University on 3rd May, 2021. It was further resolved that, “The examinations scheduled from 5th May, 2021 may be deferred if situation warrants.”

It needs mention here that the Cachar District Administration in a letter addressed to all the College Principals of the district on 19 April expressed the apprehension, “Conduct of offline examinations may worsen the situation.” The Additional Deputy Commissioner requested the Principals in the said letter to take up the matter with the higher authority. However, ACTA representatives on being asked by the media informed that the Principals’ Council did not convey to the house the concern raised by the district administration.

Meanwhile, on Monday itself, news came about two more teachers of Women’s College, Silchar who tested positive. Both of them are currently in home isolation for a period of 14 days. Another student of NC Paul College, Silchar who appeared in the TDC exam at Radhamadhab College centre on 24 April was also detected Covid positive on Monday.

On Monday, a total of a total of 90 persons were found positive in Cachar district . The number of active cases in Cachar has now gone up to 582. Two more deaths of Covid patients were also registered at Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH) during the day. Hailakandi reported 17 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, pushing the coronavirus tally in the district to 3,438. With these new cases, the district has altogether 54 active COVID-19 cases. On Monday, out of 2,615 Covid tests done, 21 persons were found positive in Karimganj district. At present, there are 92 active cases in the district. A total of 728 active Covid-19 cases are there in the three districts of Barak Valley.