First-year college classes to begin from Nov 1: Education Minister

New Delhi: Classes for first-year students will start from November, and no new admissions will be allowed beyond November 30, according to the revised academic calendar approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) this month.

The UGC had first released an alternative academic calendar for higher education institutions on April 29, in which it had prescribed that universities conduct their final-year or terminal semester examination from July 1 to July 15 and declare the results at the end of the month.

Classes for first-year students were to begin on September 1.

However, in July, the higher education regulator revisited the calendar and mandated all institutions to conduct final-year or terminal semester examination by September-end.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has accepted the Report of the Committee and approved the @ugc_india Guidelines on Academic Calendar for the First Year of Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21.

Suggested calendar👇 pic.twitter.com/JPYNhiWb0k

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) September 22, 2020

The latest revision has been made to the dates meant for starting classes for first-year students. Given the delay in conducting entrance examinations due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the UGC has now pushed the first day of the new academic session for them from September 1 to November 1.

“If there is a delay in declaration of results of the qualifying examinations, the universities may plan and start the academic session by 18.11.2020. The teaching-learning process may continue in offline/ online/ blended mode,” the UGC’s revised guidelines state.

All higher education institutions have been advised to teach six days a week to make up for the lost learning hours. Breaks and vacations will also be curtailed.

“In order to avoid financial hardship being faced by the parents due to lockdown and related factors, full refund of fees be made on account of all cancellation of admissions/ migration of students, up to 30.11.2020, for this very session as a special case,” the guidelines state.

The UGC guidelines state: “To be crystal clear, the entire fees, including all charges, be refunded in totality (zero cncellation charges) on account of cancellation/ migration up to 30.11.2020. Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to 31.12.2020, the entire fee collected from a student be refunded in full after deduction of not more than Rs 1000 as processing fee.”