From September 1, final-year students of all degree programmes will be allowed to attend classes on all days a week, whereas junior-semester students will attend college three days a week. The Department of Higher Education on Friday issued an order on the functioning of colleges when they reopen next week. The rules will apply to students of both the first and second shift, Higher Education Secretary D. Karthikeyan has said.
According to the order, the second-year students of the three-year postgraduate and undergraduate and diploma courses, such as BA, B.Sc, B.Com, BCA, MA, M.Sc, BL and MCA, will attend in-person classes on campus on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The third-year students will attend classes on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturday.
The second-year students of the two-year postgraduate programmes, such as MA, M.Sc, MCA, ME, MBA, ML, M.VSc and M.Tech (Agri), will have classes on all six days. Likewise, the second-year students of the four-year programmes, such as BE, B.Tech and B.Sc (Agri), will attend classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the third-year students will attend classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The fourth-year students of these programmes will attend classes on all days.
The second- and fourth-year students of the five-year degree programmes, such as B.Arch., B.VSc and Law, will attend classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the third- and fifth-year students will attend classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Hostels have been permitted to function by adhering to the standard operating procedure.
When the first-year students join, they should be put through a week-long orientation programme after which online classes may be conducted. However, the order has made it mandatory for all faculty and non-teaching staff members to be fully vaccinated for the institutions to reopen.
