AICTE asks all management colleges to commence classes from 1 July, new academic session from 1 August

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed all institutes approved by it to commence classes for existing students from 1 July, 2020. The academic session for newly admitted students will start from 1 August, 2020, AICTE said in its latest guidelines to its standalone postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) and postgraduate certificate in management (PGCM) institutes. The last date for cancellation of seats of PGDM/PGCM courses is 25 July. The admission for courses will end on 31 July. “Candidates for open and distance learning courses can be admitted from 15 August,” the AICTE informed. [caption id=“attachment_8240181” align=“alignleft” width=“300”] Representational image. News18[/caption] AICTE has also asked institutions not to hike the admission or other fee for the academic year 2020-2021. The technical education council has directed institutes not to force the selected candidates to pay advance fees during the COVID-19 lockdown. The council has asked colleges to enroll students on a provisional basis in case the result of the undergraduate courses could not be declared due to COVID-19 lockdown. Students in such case will have to show the proof of successful completion of graduation by 31 December, 2020. AICTE said institutions may start the session as per the new academic calendar through virtual classes. They can only shift to regular face to face mode after any such notification is issued by MHRD. It has asked institutes to promote first year students of 2019-2020 session whose exams could not be conducted due to the lockdown. The promotion will be based on University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. Earlier this week, the UGC has released its new academic calendar and guidelines for universities.