All colleges in Delhi to reopen on February 7

Most colleges in the Capital have not conducted offline classes for students in undergraduate or postgraduate courses since March 2020.

For the first time since the pandemic began, higher education institutes in Delhi have been asked to resume in-person classes for all batches and streams, starting Monday. Most colleges in the Capital have not conducted offline classes for students in undergraduate or postgraduate courses since March 2020.

The Capital is home to a number of central universities such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

Following a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting on Friday that saw several Covid-19 curbs relaxed in the national capital and that resulted in the reopening of educational institutions, state deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said higher education will be moved offline starting Monday.

“Colleges have been closed for a long time due to Covid-19, and college life, as well as the campus, has been reduced to a single room... As a result, it has been decided that all colleges in Delhi will reopen on February 7, and studies will be shifted completely from online to offline,” said Sisodia.

The Capital is home to a number of central universities such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia.

While DU last year allowed final-year UG and PG students to return to campus for practical and laboratory work as part of a phased reopening plan, the sessions were called off amid the surge in Covid cases in the Capital.

DU dean of colleges Balaram Pani said the university will decide on reopening for in-person classes only after taking into account various aspects such as hostel preparedness, among others.

“Students will come to the campuses from across states, and we need to make Covid-appropriate preparations accordingly. Once the guidelines are issued, it will take us at least a month to make preparations,” said Pani.

Jamia Millia Islamia PRO Ahmed Azeem said the varsity will wait for instructions from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to take a call on reopening campus for students in all courses. “All key decisions in the university are taken by the executive council, which will take a decision based on the guidelines and instructions that are issued,” said Azeem.

The varsity briefly reopened for PhD students last year.

A spokesperson from Ambedkar University’s public relations office said the varsity will comply with the DDMA directions and had started preparations to resume classes. “We will issue our reopening notification as soon as we receive the DDMA guidelines,” said the official.