BENGALURU: Offline classes for college students will not begin from Thursday, as announced by Higher Education Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan earlier. For now, online classes will continue till further announcements are made, department officials said. The recent UGC guidelines approving the academic calendar for first year students of undergraduate and postgraduate courses seem to have impacted the state’s decision.
“Nothing is finalised about offline classes yet. The UGC recently announced the date of admission for new entrants as November 1. We are also waiting for fresh guidelines from UGC and Ministry of Home Affairs. We will take a decision based on that,” said Commissioner for Higher Education Pradeep P. But a top UGC official said that there will be no fresh guidelines from the commission.
Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice-Chairman, UGC, told TNIE that November 1 is the starting date for other semester students too. The schedule for first-year students was given as admissions had to be held, he added. An official from Dr Narayan’s office said that the minister will hold a meeting with top officials in two days and then announce the dates for offline classes for college students.