Odisha reopens colleges for pre-final year undergraduate and first-year postgraduate students from today

Colleges in Odisha will reopen for pre-final year undergraduate and first-year postgraduate students today, (10 February). Till now, online classes were being held for all the college students but now for the select year candidates from Wednesday in the state will be attending college. According to a report by NDTV, candidates have been instructed to abide by all the COVID-19 safety protocols while attending classes. Students and professors alike would have to wear face masks, sanitise their hands regularly and maintain social distancing at all times. This announcement is applicable for all the state colleges in Odisha. There are some Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that all students must follow. Classes are being resumed only for a limited number of students who will be required to be physically present at the colleges for the classes. The other students must continue attending lectures in the online mode. This is a measure taken to reduce the gathering of students in colleges. Also, colleges must be alert in their operation. They must be quick to contact officials from the local government to seek help in case of any health emergency. The report added that offline classes for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students in Odisha have been in motion from January this year. Also, the school education board of the state resumed physical classes for Classes 10 and 12 and then for Classes 9 and 11 in two phases. Even Anganwadi classes have been started in the offline mode from 1 February in the state. Earlier this month, Odisha Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo had announced that the pre-final year classes of the UG students and PG first-year classes are going to be resumed in the offline mode from 10 February. This is in view of the upcoming semester exams as well. The PG first-year students will be appearing in the first year examination (semester) on 6 June. The examinations would go on till 19 June. The results are likely to be out by 20 July.