The Punjab government Monday ordered full reopening of all government, aided and non-aided colleges and all government and private universities from January 21. All the higher educational institutes have to follow the guidelines issued by the Punjab government regarding Covid-19 from time to time.
The Higher Education Department, Punjab, issued a detailed letter to all the universities and colleges in this regard.
The official spokesperson said that as per the guidelines issued by the government, in the interest of the students, the educational institutions should conduct classes through both offline and online medium and conduct the semester / annual examinations through offline medium only. At the same time, students would be allowed to take classes as per their choice and no institute should compel students to attend the classes physically.
The spokesperson said that hostels should be opened in the universities and colleges following the instructions of Covid-19. Hostel rooms should be allotted per student or according to the size of the room keeping in view the required distance / safety of the students and priority should be given to final year students at the time of allotment. He said that the mess / canteens in the educational institutions should be opened as per the instructions of the health department taking all necessary safety measures.
Earlier, the government had allowed phased reopening of universities and colleges from November 16. In the first phase, only departments with hands-on training such as sciences and medicines were allowed to open and only final year students were called for physical classes with 50% attendance.
Courtesy: The Indian Express
Baskaran Baskaran
thaadi
Alagappa University Directorate of Distance Education