“Though the exams were scheduled towards the end of November, colleges do have the autonomy of shifting dates to finish the syllabus,” an official from Mumbai University told Free Press Journal. The autonomous colleges of Mumbai University have scheduled their end-semester exams in or after December. “We need to ensure that we have completed imparting 90 days of proper education to our students,” said Wilson Rao, the exam controller of Jai Hind College.

“The first-year students started college on August 10, which is two months of delay, and it won’t be fair for the students to face exams before they even get accustomed to offline learning,” Dr Minu Madlani, principal of Hinduja College told the news daily. She added that principals from Mumbai colleges are trying to speak with the varsity officials to ensure that the exam dates are deferred in order to complete the syllabus.

Meanwhile, the final year semester exams, which were scheduled to begin on October 15, were later postponed. The students claimed that they did not have enough time to prepare for the final exams and urged MU to postpone the exam by a month and conduct it after the Diwali break. Following a request from Mumbai University’s final-year students, the varsity decided to conduct the fifth-semester exam after Diwali.