Since the situation worldwide has come to a standstill amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, it is affecting all the sectors of the economy including the academic one majorly. Schools and Colleges were amongst the early ones to receive the instruction of shutting down, and the situation hasn’t changed ever since.
However, the country is still going through a spike in cases every day, but there has been a decision regarding the commencement of the new academic session for independent B-schools.
The Business schools or colleges offering postgraduate diploma or certification courses will be commencing their academic session from July 1, 2020.
However, a new development with regards to this is that the Business schools will not be allowed to hike any fees according to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Also, the new session for the ones seeking admission will commence from August 1, 2020.
To throw further light on this Mr Rajive Kumar, Member Secretary of AICTE said that All academic institutions providing Post Graduate Certificate in Management (PGCM) and Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses must follow the new academic calendar.
Educational institutions can commence the academic session according to the notified dates but in the online mode only and should only shift to physical classroom sessions only after receiving instructions from the HRD ministry.
The educational institutions should not hike the admission fees for the ongoing academic year i.e. 2020-21 and moroever should not compel the shortlisted candidates to pay the fees in advance for the duration of the lockdown.
Due to all educational institutions being shut across the country, many educational institutions were unable to conduct the final year examinations for undergraduate courses or in many cases were unable to declare the results.
In such cases, provisional admission may be given to the students, and the students must submit the proof of successful completion of the graduation before 31st December 2020.
Since a period of close to two months, all the schools, colleges and universities in the country have remained shut. The Covid-19 pandemic situation has turned the education sector upside down. Keeping in view that the things may take more time to get back to normal, many of the schools, colleges and universities have moved to the online portal of teaching.
Timely online classes are conducted through video conferencing apps, and also attendance is marked just like the normal lectures used to happen in schools and colleges. However, major examinations have been postponed since a classroom shutdown was announced across the country on March 16, 2020.
A lockdown was then announced up to May 17, 2020, which has now been extended to May 31, 2020, in few states which is a lockdown version 4.0.
As per the digits issued by the health ministry as on date the current confirmed cases have climbed to a whopping 96,144 out of which 56,008 are active cases, and 37,091 have recovered, and the death toll has risen to 3,039. These are the digit counts as on Monday morning on May 18, 2020.
Keeping in view the scenario, admission processes can take place; however, the conducting of classes will only be possible through online medium. Hence Digital India is the new era in this situation.
Source – Hindustan Times