THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a long hiatus, the colleges in the state will be fully active again from Monday, October 25, 2021. Offline classes for all undergraduate courses, including at engineering colleges, will begin. Offline classes for all courses were scheduled to resume last Monday, but the state government deferred it due to adverse weather conditions.
Regular classes for postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students had started on October 4. The Higher Education Department had earlier issued detailed guidelines for the reopening of classes for the lower semesters, considering the pandemic situation. College managements were directed to hasten vaccination drives for students and employees, and take steps to ensure that Covid protocol is maintained.
Higher Education Minister R Bindu has appealed to the college management to ensure the safety of students as at least some places are still under the threat of heavy rain apart from the Covid situation.
“Taking note of the situation, the college authorities should ensure that all directions issued by the state government are adhered to. Students who are not eligible for vaccination yet and those who wait for the second dose should be allowed to enter classrooms,” she said.
It should be ensured that all the above-18 family members of students have taken at least one dose of vaccine. She also advised differently challenged people and those who have comorbidities to abstain from classes for at least two weeks.
Praveshanolsavam on Nov 1
The headmasters and principals in the schools should have to fulfill all the criteria mentioned in the guidelines issued by state government before October 27 as part of reopening of the schools, General Education Minister V Sivankutty has directed. The government also gave permission to reopen the schools on November 1 with Praveshanolsavam, adhering to Covid protocol.
Last date of engineering admission extended
The state government has decided to extend the last date of admission to engineering colleges to November 25. Rain and landslides had affected the second round of engineering allotment. Further, as the first allotment of IITs and NITs by Joint Seat Allocation Authority is scheduled for Wednesday, many engineering seats are expected to be vacant even after the last date of admission. Considering these circumstances, the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations had requested to extend the date of engineering admissions to November 25.