The Kerala Unaided Colleges Principals’ Council has expressed concerns about the move to reopen colleges from January 4 and hold classes on Saturday as directed by the University Grants Commission and the Centre.
Varughese Mathew, council functionary, said in a release on Tuesday that the proposal to hold classes in two shifts in the morning and in the afternoon would be practically difficult as teachers and non-teaching staff would be forced to work overtime. The UGC had proposed to start the first shift at 8.30 a.m. and conclude the second shift by 5 p.m. for sixth semester undergraduate students and fourth semester postgraduate students.
The council said that students in various streams often attend language classes together.
If the classes are held in two shifts, this would not be possible. With transport services yet to fully resume in view of the pandemic situation, students coming from distant places would find it difficult to reach home if the classes conclude at 5 p.m.
The council proposed that the classes be held at one stretch between 8.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.
To compensate the loss of first semester classes for undergraduate and postgraduate students, the council suggested that both the first and second semester classes for them be completed by April 30.
Summer vacations can be declared between May and June and the classes can resume on July 1.
