Chandigarh colleges likely to reopen on August 20

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 3

A detailed order meant for reopening of local colleges and universities will be issued on Friday, stated the office of the Director, Higher Education.

The colleges and universities are expected to open on August 20. “Detailed orders will be issued by Friday,” said Rubinderjit Singh Brar, Director, Higher Education.

With a sharp decline in fresh Covid-19 cases, the UT Administration had decided to reopen institutions of higher education from August. However, no exact date was issued. A survey has already been carried out by the authorities to assess the number of students and staff members vaccinated with at least a single vaccine jab.

Sources said concerns were being raised over conducting both offline and online classes, which will burden the faculty members.

“The final directives are expected to be received on Friday. In the coming weeks, colleges will issue notification for all students/staff members. The hostellers will be adjusted as per need. Initial days will be testing for all, but things will be back to normal as the time progresses. Vaccination will be given top priority and permanent vaccination centres will be installed for students. The Panjab University authorities will also release the final notification based on the directives of the Director, Higher Education. Again, the footfall in hostels will be managed by the authorities,” said a source.

Management of various institutions claim to be prepared for reopening of campuses.

“Our faculty members are already vaccinated and students will be asked to follow the same procedure. We have been coming to colleges, but the option for conducting both online and offline examinations should be taken care of. If exams will be conducted offline, the classes should be also conducted through a single mode,” said a faculty member.