Govt Panel Suggests New College Session to Start in Sept, Not July

Schools and colleges have been closed since mid-March, even before the nationwide lockdown was announced.

File photo of students appear for class 12th Board exams in a school. Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: PTI)

A government-appointed committee has recommended that the start of 2020-2021 academic year for higher education should be pushed to September, instead of a mid-July start, said a report in The Indian Express.

Schools and colleges across the country have been closed since mid-March, even before the nationwide lockdown was announced to contain the spread of coronavirus.

According to the report, a seven-member committee, set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) was tasked to deliberate on issues related to the academic calendar, after the outbreak of coronavirus.

The panel, headed by Haryana Central University vice-chancellor RC Kuhad, had members like VC Banasthali Vidyapeeth Aditya Shastri and Raj Kumar, head of Panjab University, submitted the report on Friday, 24 April.

The panel also made a recommendation on holding year-end or semester-end examinations that could not be held on time. The panel suggested that they should be held in July, mentioned the report.

“The guidelines will not be binding on higher education institutions, but they will lay down the outer time limit by which the government expects them to start their new academic year,” a source told the newspaper.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)