With the spike in coronavirus cases, the BDS and MDS students of Uttar Pradesh studying in different colleges across the country, particularly in south, have appealed to the Dental Council of India (DCI) to postpone the examinations in view of the current situation.

The DCI has released an advisory for conducting final year undergraduate and post-graduate exams in the month of July 2020 following which the colleges across India have decided to conduct examinations from July 7.

Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said that no examination should be conducted putting the lives of the students in danger. He said the DCI should consider the appeal of UP students and resolve the issue amicably so that the career of the students was not jeopardised.

Students of dental courses took to social media to register protest against the medical university decision to conduct semester examinations in July amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

“We demand postponement of exams of all semesters because students and their parents were not consulted before releasing the exam dates. Our books were left in hostels and we did not get much time for preparation. The government cannot use us as their test kits,” tweeted a student.

The students of both UG and PG courses were forced to leave their hostels in March before lockdown was announced and they have come to their home states and since then are staying at home, sometimes attending classes virtually.

The parents have also written a letter to the DCI to reconsider its decision to hold examination when the pandemic is heading towards its peak

One of the students from Lucknow, who is doing PG from Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (RUAS) in Bengaluru said it was unjust to hold physical examinations now as they would have to travel from other states and stay at hostels.

“If she does return, she will need to home quarantine herself for 14 days. She lives in a girls’ hostel. Will the college provide an on-campus quarantine facility in her hostel itself? If yes, will they be providing food supplies and groceries in the quarantine facility itself?,” asked the parent of a female student.

A parent, whose daughter also studies in RUAS, said that the unprecedented situation presented in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic had already put the students under immense stress, owing to the uncertainty around their future.

“Add to it travelling from a safe location (home) to a potentially unsafe location in such times and going through quarantine would put the students in further psychological distress, affecting their performance in the exams,” he said in his communication to the college.

Meenakshi Jha, from Varanasi, says exams should be postponed as many students are at their homes in different parts of the state and many are in other states.

“Who will be responsible if someone gets infected while travelling or during exams. Secondly, how, can we maintain social distancing effectively in hostels, libraries and hostel messes,” she asks.

Thousands of students from Uttar Pradesh are studying in professional colleges of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra