Arvind Kejriwal writes to PM Narendra Modi, urges him to cancel final-year exams of central varsities 'for the sake of youths'

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the final-year examinations of Delhi University and other central universities across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"For the sake of our youths, I urge the PM to personally intervene and cancel final- year exams of DU and other central government universities and save the future," CM Kejriwal said in a letter to PM Modi.

For the sake of our youth, I urge Hon’ble PM to personally intervene and cancel final year exams of DU and other central govt universities and save the future. pic.twitter.com/V7iinytR9O — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 11, 2020

The AAP chief also urged the Centre and the University Grants Commission to change their guidelines in the larger interest of the students.

"I request the central government and the University Grants Commission to change their guidelines in the larger interest of the students and cancel their final-semester examinations," Kejriwal said in the letter.

This came after the Delhi government announced cancellation of all examinations, including final-semester examination, in the state universities due to the coronavirus crisis.

All forthcoming semester and finals exams of all universities under the Delhi government have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Saturday.

Taking to Twitter, the state Education Minister wrote: "In light of the major disruptions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, Delhi govt has decided to cancel all Delhi state university exams including final exams."

"All the students in Delhi state universities will be promoted to next semesters and the final year students can awarded their degree basis their past performance," Sisodia said.

He said studies in the universities were disrupted due to the pandemic, and it was not possible to conduct examinations as proper classes for the semesters were not taken. "Unprecedented times require unprecedented decisions," Sisodia said.

He said these state universities have been asked to promote their students and award them degrees adopting any method of evaluation.

The national capital has state universities such as Delhi Technological University, National Law University, Ambedkar University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, among others. Delhi University is a central varsity.