Maharashtra colleges, universities reopening from Feb 15, attendance criteria changed

Colleges in Maharashtra have been allowed to resume classes with 50% attendance starting from February 15, the higher and technical education minister of Maharashtra, Uday Samant announced on Wednesday. The minister also said that the government has decided to relax the 75% compulsory attendance criteria for the current academic year. 

"We have decided to resume colleges and universities in the state from February 15. The colleges can conduct physical classes with 50% students in a class," Uday Samant said. The colleges were closed since the Coronavirus related lockdown was imposed in the month of March 2020.  Earlier last month, vice-chancellors of all state universities had demanded resumption of physical classes in colleges in a meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. 

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“I got to know about reopening of Class 5 to 8 in schools across the state, hence not allowing physical classes at colleges and universities looks contradictory. Universities have already started their academic year and online lectures are also going on. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has come under control, the universities should consider resuming physical classes at colleges. They can conduct classes in shifts," the governor had said earlier. 

Mumbai Schools Reopened:

Schools in Maharashtra had also reopened for students of Classes 5 to 8 from January 27. Minister for School Education Varsha Gaikwad had said that RT-PCR tests of teachers and non-teaching staff will be conducted to ensure maximum safety.
The college authorities have been instructed to adhere strictly to Covid-19 guidelines and protocols to ensure that students teachers and staff are not infected with Coronavirus. 

Status of other universities: 

Delhi University has also reopened its colleges for offline classes from February 1 for final year students. Moreover, JNU has also decided to reopen the campus for offline classes from February 8 in a phased manner and allowed fourth-semester M.Phil and M.Tech students from its science school and special center, as well as final semester MBA students, both day-scholars and hostel residents, to return to campus in its seventh phase of reopening.

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