Bhubaneswar: The state government on Sunday announced the reopening of all degree colleges and universities in Odisha on January 11.
However, the degree colleges and universities will be reopened only for those students who are set to appear for the last semester examinations, according to a notification by the Higher Education Department.
For the physical classroom teaching, the Department has issued the following guidelines.
—Physical classes shall be held in a 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 students who were absent.
—25 per cent of the syllabus shall be covered by Guided Students Self Study as per the guideline issued by the Department.
—To compensate for the lost days, physical classroom teaching shall 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 To this extent, the common holiday list-2021, communicated to all Degree colleges by the Department is hereby superseded.
—In addition to the commencement of physical classroom teaching for 2020-21 Final Year UG/PG courses, teaching and research activities of PhD, M.Phil and other research scholars shall also commence in physical mode with effect from January 11, 2021.
—Apart from the state-run universities, the private universities under the Higher Education Department may also consider to commence physical classroom teaching of Final Year UG/PG courses from January a by following this guideline to the extent applicable.
Apart from this, the Department also issued the following protocols to contain the spread of the COVID-19.
—Teachers/Staff/Students residing in active containment zone shall not come to universities/colleges.
—Face mask/face cover shall be mandatory.
—Frequent hand wash/ hand sanitization shall be ensured.
—Social distancing (6 ft. distance) shall be adopted in classrooms, libraries, laboratories, etc. If need be, crowded classes can be divided into batches and teaching hours in a day can be extended.
—Spitting shall be strictly prohibited.
—Respiratory etiquettes (covering one’s mouth and nose by handkerchief while coughing/sneezing) shall be strictly followed.
—Hostels shall be opened from 10-01-2021 only for 2020-21 Final Year UG/ PG students as well as PhD, M.Phil and other Research Scholars.
—All possible COVID-19 prevention protocols shall be followed in hostels.
