Odisha suspends classes in all HEIs from tomorrow till May 2 due to heatwave

NEW DELHI: The Odisha government has announced closure of all higher education institutions for classroom teaching for all undergraduate and postgraduate students due to heatwave. The Department of Higher Education said that all colleges, universities will remain closed from tomorrow April 27 to May 2.

“In view of the prevailing heat wave condition in Odisha, classroom teaching (UG and PG) in all HEIs - coming under HED - shall remain suspended from April 27, 2022 to May 2,.2022,” DHE Odisha tweeted.

In view of the prevailing heat wave condition in Odisha, classroom teaching (UG & PG) in all HEIs - coming under HED - shall remain suspended from 27.04.2022 to 02.05.2022.

— ଉଚ୍ଚଶିକ୍ଷା ବିଭାଗ, ଓଡିଶା ସରକାର ?? (@DHE_Odisha) April 26, 2022

“However, other activities of HEIs such as examination, evaluation, administrative work, research work, etc. shall continue as usual,” it added.

Also Read | Ambedkar University: SFI demand action against registrar, proctor for disrupting 'Peace March'

Intense heat scorched Odisha on Sunday with state capital Bhubaneswar recording a maximum temperature of 43.3 degrees Celsius, which was five notches higher than the normal, weather officials said, as per the PTI report.

Several districts bore the brunt of the blistering heat, including Cuttack, Khurda, Angul, Subarnapur, Boudh and Nayagarh districts, the Met office said. The maximum temperature rose by 1-3 degrees Celsius at several places, while the minimum temperature was also higher than normal in some areas, it said.

Also Read | IIM Ahmedabad awards Rs 1 crore prize money to Best Startup Pitch Contest winners; highest ever

Earlier, the state government decided to curtail summer vacation for all higher education institutions, including state public universities, to compensate for the academic days lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the authorities of the state public universities, government and non-government degree colleges, and teacher training institutes, Principal Secretary of the Higher Education department, Saswat Mishra, said the vacation will now be allowed for a brief period from June 1 to June 16 this year. Earlier, the summer break used to be around 45 days.

In a related development, the Odisha government on Monday announced to close all government and private schools in the state for 5 days from April 26 to April 30 in view of the heat wave situation.