School, College Reopening: List of colleges, states to resume offline classes on February 21

NEW DELHI: In view of a sharp drop in Covid-19 cases in India, state governments have decided to reopen schools and colleges. Several states have already started offline classes for Class 10, 12 students as board exams 2022 are nearing. Colleges, universities have also started issuing Covid-19 guidelines for resuming physical classes.

NIT Srinagar, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), ZA Dental College (ZADC), Banaras Hindu Univesity (BHU) will reopen tomorrow, February 21. Gujarat and Goa has also decided to reopen schools for students.

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Reopens

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) authorities allowed resuming offline classes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) from February 21. “Classes for students of MBBS final Prof Part-II (2017 batch), MBBS Final Prof Part-I (2018 batch), BDS Final Prof (2018 batch) and BDS Third Prof (2019 batch) will commence on February 21. We are opening the medical and dental colleges in phases to avoid overcrowding”, said R Bhargava, Dean, Faculty of Medicine said. He further said, “Students will have to submit Covid vaccination certificates for reporting in their residential hostels and they must report to their college and hostel before 4 pm for entry in the hostel premises.”

ZA Dental College

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) also permitted ZA Dental College (ZADC) to resume offline classes from February 21. The order came after the AMU Vice Chancellor approved various departments, centres and schools of the university to reopen for offline classes in a phased manner as there has been a dip in Covid-19 cases.

NIT Srinagar

The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar to resume physical classes for postgraduate courses and BTech 8th-semester students of all branches from February 21. Dean (academic affairs) Najeeb-ud-din announced in a recently held meeting under the chairmanship of director NIT Srinagar and other officials. PhD research scholars of the institute were already working in offline mode. Najeeb-ud-din said all students reporting to college campus on February 21 are mandated to bring a vaccination certificate and a negative RT-PCR report with them.

BHU reopens on February 21

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on February 10 decided to reopen campus for PhD students with immediate effect. The university has decided to resume physical classes with some exceptions. Final year classes in the faculty of agriculture, veterinary and science, management, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development will start in offline mode with immediate effect. But classes for other years will start in offline mode from February 21, 2022, the BHU said. The departments that are exempted from attending offline classes are first year students in Science Institute, faculty of arts, social science, law, stage arts, visual arts, commerce, Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan and Women's College.

Gujarat schools reopen

The Gujarat government has decided to do away with the online system of education and said that from February 21, schools and colleges in the state will have to conduct their classroom sessions through offline mode only. The state government had earlier given options for Class 10, 12 as well as college students for attending the classes either in online or offline mode. However, February 21 onwards, there will be no online system as all schools and colleges will impart education only through offline mode at their premises, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani announced.

Goa school reopening

The Goa Education Department has ordered the reopening of all schools, including pre-primary ones, from Monday. Director of Education Bhushan Savaikar said the decision to reopen the schools has been taken in view of a downward trend in COVID-19 cases in the state. In a circular, Director of Education said timing concession, if required, may be given to students in initial days. The circular said exams should be held in offline mode only and school uniforms should not be insisted upon by authorities.