University of Hyderabad to resume online classes from 20 August amid COVID-19 pandemic

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) will resume online classes of various programmes from 20 August. The varsity said that it has decided to start classes in online mode for about 2,000 ongoing post-graduate students. The University had suspended classes for all batches on 15 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. The online classes will be started after task force headed by senior professor and former dean of the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, Vinod Pavarala gave its approval. The task force had accessed public health risks involved in conducting physical, face-to-face classes on campus and suggested that UoH can start online teaching in a couple of weeks. The University is also granting a special allowance to students from deprived background to help meet the cost of the online classes. They will be receiving Rs 1,000 per month from the UoH as digital access grant. A report by The Indian Express said that the University has received 62,853 applications online for 2020-2021 academic session. Most number of applications has been received for IMSc (5-year Integrated) Sciences (MA/PY/CH/SB/AG). According to a report by The News Minute, the Vice-Chancellor of the Hyderabad University has also announced plans to support the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) infrastructure at the department or individual faculty-level to help in effective teaching via online mode. The task force will remain functional till 31 December and will monitor the implementation of the decisions taken by the university. Hyderabad has so far reported over 75,000 active cases of COVID-19. The deadly virus has claimed lives of 601 people in the state