Students of North-Eastern Federal University will defend theses and pass state exams remotely amid the pandemic, TASS reports. Passes and exams are also will be held online.

According to Vice Rector for Educational Activity Aleksey Golikov, exams are already going online. “Currently, midterm assessment in the form of tests and exams is held in accordance with the approved schedule of the educational process for each program. A score-rating system of student achievement is used, passes and exams are held using online conferences,” said the vice rector.

According to Mikhail Fedorov, Vice Rector for Continuing Education and Personnel Policy, the university is ready for the online completion of the academic year. “Today NEFU implements 467 basic professional educational programs. Branches, institutes are equipped with video conferencing in Zoom. All the nuances of defence, graduation are defined. In 2020, 3,440 people graduate from the head university, 42 from Mirny branch, 88 from Neryungri branch, and 18 from Chukotka branch. 388 state examination commissions have been established at the university, 98 of which will examine state exams, the rest will work on thesis defence,” noted Mikhail Fedorov.

Natalia Shubina, a fourth-year student at Teacher Training Institute, considers the decision to hold exams and thesis defence online is justified. “In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with this: sooner or later, new technologies needed to be tested in action massively. In addition, at the present time we have all the conveniences, technologies, online services to organize everything remotely. Among the advantages, I see the possibility of thesis defence from any part of the world,” concluded the student.