Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: All the universities and government & non-government degree colleges of Odisha shall commence classroom teaching for the students of 2020-21 final year under graduate/post-graduate course from January 11.
Classroom teaching had been suspended in all educational institutions in Odisha since March 2020 following outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The physical classroom teaching will be held by following COVID-19 prevention protocols, the State government announced on Sunday.
The State government issued guidelines that said physical classes shall be held in regular manner to cover all chapters of the syllabus irrespective of coverage of some chapters by online mode.
“Whenever possible, the physical classroom teaching shall be recorded and shared with absentee students,” the government said.
According to the Higher Education Department, the penultimate semester exams for the students of undergraduate and post=graduate courses will be held from March 16 to March 31 and the final semester examinations will take place between June 16 and June 30.
The government ordered that wearing of facemasks will be mandatory for all the persons coming to colleges and universities. Social distancing should be maintained in classrooms and, if needed, crowded classes can be divided into batches and teaching hours in a day can be extended.
The hostels will be opened from January 10 only for final year undergraduate/post-graduate students as well as Ph.D., M.Phil. and other research scholars. In order to compensate for the lost days, physical classes should be conducted on all days except the examination period, Sundays, January 26 (Republic Day), February 16 (Saraswati Puja) and April 1 (Utkal Divas).
To this extent, the Common Holiday List-2021, communicated to all degree colleges by the higher education department is hereby superseded, the Department said. Teaching and research activities of Ph.D., M.Phil. and other research scholars shall also commence in physical mode with effect from January 11, it added.
The State government had on Saturday announced to reopen schools for Classes X and XII from January 8 in order to ensure 100 days of classroom teaching before their final examinations.
While Class X students will attend classes from January 8 to April 26, Class XII students will cover their courses between January 8 and April 28. The students will appear in practical examinations before final examinations.
The Board of Secondary Education will conduct Class X examinations from May 3 to May 15 and for Class XII between May 15 and June 11, the government had said.
