The government of Maharashtra on Monday announced resumption of offline colleges across the state from February 1, Tuesday amid COVID-19.
The higher and technical education department issued an order to reopen degree colleges and universities across the state, however local administrations will take the final call based on the Covid-19 situation in their respective city or districts and in consultation with university or college administrations.
According to the circular, regular classes in the state universities and their affiliated colleges, technical colleges will be held from tomorrow onwards.
“All the universities including deemed, self-financed and private universities, affiliated colleges and other educational institutions have been allowed to resume offline classes from February 1. The local administration i.e. municipal commissioner, district collector and others have been allowed to take appropriate decisions considering Covid-19 situation in their jurisdictions and issue standard operating procedure (SOP) accordingly,” the order read.
Students who have taken both doses of the Covid 19 vaccine will be allowed to attend the university and college in person. However, students who have not been vaccinated (both doses) will not be able to attend the actual college, they should be provided online facility.
Regular classes in the State Universities & their affiliated colleges, technical colleges will be held tomorrow. It has been approved to start offline mode directly from 1st February 2022 in consultation with the local level administration
.@fpjindia pic.twitter.com/PRrZQdzcQJ— Sanjay Jog (@SanjayJog7) January 31, 2022
Meanwhile, Several hundred students protested on Monday near the residence of Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad in Mumbai demanding that offline exams for classes X to XII be canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The protest took place in Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi and police had to resort to a mild baton charge to stop them from moving towards the minister’s residence in the vicinity, an official said.
The students, who had assembled from areas like Thane and Nashik besides the metropolis on the basis of information shared on social media, did not have permission for the protest, the police official added.
“No student was injured in the lathicharge. Some of them were brought to the local police station and released soon after,” he said.