S’rashtra Univ plans to award 5-10 marks to students taking Covid jabs

Rajkot: In an attempt to inspire youth especially in the rural areas to take the Covid-19 jabs, the Saurashtra University is contemplating awarding 5 to 10 more marks in internal assessment to students who have taken both doses of the vaccine.

It will move a proposal in its syndicate meeting scheduled later this month.

As many as 70% of the 230 colleges affiliated with the university are in rural areas, except those in Rajkot and Jamnagar.

If the plan is approved, it will benefit 2.25 lakh students, who get 30 internal marks based on regular attendance, sports and extracurricular activities.

Students in rural areas faced network issues and so even online classes were not mandatory for them, according to Vice-Chancellor Vijay Desani. He said the quota of marks could be utilised to award students who have taken both doses of the vaccines.

The university also has plans to motivate students to convince their families to get them vaccinated.

The plan is also to encourage colleges to get their students immunised. It is planning to award the first 11 colleges that achieve complete immunization of 90 per cent of students.

The Gujarat Government is executing the vaccination drive at a rapid rate and is claimed to be the best performing states in this.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, over 1.91 crore doses of the vaccines have been administered in Gujarat. Of this, 1.47 crore are the first dose and 44 lakh are the second dose of the vaccine.