Offline classes for PG, UG courses after Sankranti

Putting an end to the anticipation of students, the state government has decided to reopen offline classes for first-year postgraduate, first and second-year undergraduate courses after the Sankranti festival.

The date and detailed schedule to reopen offline classes will be announced soon.

A decision to this effect was taken at a virtual meeting of Vice-Chancellors of the state-run universities, chaired by higher education minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan in Bengaluru on Friday.

The minister has asked the vice-chancellors to submit a report about the same to finalise the dates and announce the schedule for reopening of the offline classes for first-year postgraduate, first and second-year undergraduate courses.

As the classes for final year courses have commenced and running successfully, there is also a demand from first and second-year students to reopen the offline classes.

Following the demand, the minister convened a meeting with vice-chancellors to gather their opinions. The vice-chancellors present in the meeting responded positively and advised the government to reopen the offline classes for other grades too.

Speaking after the meeting, Ashwath Narayan said, “The classes for final year students are conducted successfully and we will even start offline classes for other grades too after Sankranti by following all safety procedures from University Grants Commission and Covid-19 protocols.”

“When the classes for grades 10 and 12 are conducted without any disruptions, why can’t for higher classes?” a vice-chancellor questioned.

Meanwhile, the minister assured to discuss with the transport department about transportation and student bus pass facilities, and also with the social welfare department about reopening of hostels for first and second-year students.

VCs bat for pen-paper exam

In the meeting, there was a discussion about the online examination and a majority of the vice-chancellors, including vice-chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, batted for pen and paper mode of examination.

The students of boh VTU and Karnataka State Law University were staging protests against the decision of the universities to conduct pen and paper mode examinations.