Himanta attends video conference with MHRD to ensure least impact on academic year

April 28: Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ along with Minister of State for HRD, Sanjay Dhotre interacted with Education Ministers and Education Secretaries of all the States through video conferencing on Tuesday. Education Ministers of 22 States and secretaries from 14 States and Union Territories attended the conference. Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy Anita Karwal and senior officials of the Ministry participated in the meeting. The Union HRD Minister appealed to all the states to start the process of evaluation of answer sheets of Board exams and facilitate CBSE to evaluate answer sheets of the students in their respective States.

State Education Minister, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday also participated in the video conference with Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to discuss disruptions in education augmented by outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown. Sharing the outcome of virtual meet, Himanta said, “We discussed ways in which we could streamline things to ensure least impact this has on academic year and the learning outcomes.”

Taking to his twitter handle, Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, “Attended a VC held by Union Min, @HRDMinistry, Sri @DrRPNishank, to discuss disruptions in education due to #COVID19 & subsequent #Lockdown and ways in which we could streamline things to ensure least impact this has on academic year and the learning outcomes.”

Attended a VC held by Union Min, @HRDMinistry, Sri @DrRPNishank, to discuss disruptions in education due to #COVID19 & subsequent #Lockdown and ways in which we could streamline things to ensure least impact this has on academic year and the learning outcomes.#AssamCares pic.twitter.com/q3UMIb67RK

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 28, 2020

Mr Pokhriyal said that our whole efforts should be that our 33 crore students do not face any difficulty and can continue their education and for this, various efforts are being made to strengthen the online education platforms. The Minister also said that apart from this, alternative academic calendar has also been released by NCERT which states can adopt according to their local situation. “Also we have to prepare safety guidelines in case of opening of schools”. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said that exams like Joint Entrance Examination and National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and management courses will be held only when the situation normalises.

Meanwhile, UGC constituted two committees to look into the issues of academic loss and online education in the wake of the lockdown in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. As per sources, one panel has recommended that the academic session be started from September than July. The second panel has suggested that universities should conduct online exams if they have the infrastructure and means or wait for the lockdown to get over and then decide a date for pen-and-paper examinations. The UGC is expected to frame some guidelines on university examinations as well as the new academic calendar as per the report submitted by the committee.

Also Read: UGC panel recommends academic sessions in colleges & varsities to start from September