As per decisions made by the Karnataka government on Friday, October 23, degree and diploma colleges and those of engineering can reopen after November 17. All of the colleges were shut down since the lockdown started in March due to the pandemic. Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayana who is also the in-charge of higher education made the announcement that the colleges can reopen after Diwali celebrations ends on the aforementioned date
Offline/Online:
Students have spent over 6 months away from their colleges and for almost 4-5 months of online classes have been conducted. Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayana said that the decision includes that offline and online systems can be used equally so that college students will not face much difficulty. He also mentioned that students who want to attend classes in the offline mode must have parental consent.
Instructions to the college:
The state government has promised guidance and aid for college managements to implement Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)s to commence classes. There will also be a decision made regarding the number of batches that each college can have.
UGC guidelines to begin offline systems have been implemented by the state government. In accordance with these guidelines, UGC has not made it mandatory for colleges to reopen. The state government has instead opted to let colleges open after November 17 in a phased manner.
The higher education department has already submitted a report on the methods and possible functioning of the colleges when reopened. Every college will be monitored by a task force that will implement the SOPs.
WIth normal life and education being disrupted due to the pandemic, online classes had become the norm for students. As much as conducting offline classes would be a change from their present normal routine, most students fear the spread of Covid-19. Thus they are in a dilemma.
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