Students’ safety top priority: PU VC

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9

Safety of the students would be the top priority while making any decision, said Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Raj Kumar.

Professor Kumar said though all preparations regarding exams had been made, there was no rush to conduct these or start classes.

He said any stringent step would be taken only after considering the students’ interest, safety and as per the Government of India’s directions.

“We have our plan ready for conducting exams or for starting classes, but we are in no hurry. We have done our homework in simple terms. There have been many speculations, but we are working day and night to avoid any difficulty for our students,” said Kumar.

When asked if the university is planning to conduct exams of exiting classes first in July followed by other classes, he said, “The life of final year/semester students is equally valuable for us. We won’t go beyond government’s guidelines and expert views of our faculty for conducting any kind of exams. Our teachers have been going all out to plan the best for the students.”

Citing high respect of the university, Kumar remained reluctant on promoting students to next class. “We have all options available. Our university is one of the top-rated universities of the country. Promoting students to next class will not be good for them. We have many options, which can be chosen whenever required,” he said.

Maintaining that the university will not open before the government’s nod, the Vice-Chancellor said, “Students should not become anxious. They will be given ample time to prepare for exams. We have already changed our exam pattern for certain courses and the same will be carried further.”

On the issue of fee waiver for hotel management students and feasibility of calling students from far away, Kumar said that the PU Registrar was trying to fill in the gaps. “The demands have been well addressed by our Registrar and we have been working on it.” Sharing his views over handing over hostels to the UT Administration, Kumar said the decision was taken after directives by the government. The Vice-Chancellor also interacted with the superintendents of examination branch to streamline the functioning today.

Reports suggested that the PU Registrar had written to the UT Administration for handing back the hostels that were converted into isolation wards.

Sanitisers, thermal screening on cards

Sources claimed that the university authorities were making mandatory for its students and staff to wear mask, carry sanitisers and download Aarogya Setu app whenever the varsity opened. The departments will also have sanitiser and thermal screening facilities.