Most city colleges remain closed on the first day of reopening

City-based colleges did not resume formal classes on Monday even as varsities and colleges across the state were permitted to reopen for the first time since educational

City-based colleges did not resume formal classes on Monday even as varsities and colleges across the state were permitted to reopen for the first time since educational institutions across the country were asked to shut down in view of Covid-19 pandemic in March.

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While the department of higher education had directed colleges to start classes from Monday, three out of the four colleges in the city remained closed for academic activity on Monday on account of Bhai Dhooj as per Gurugram University’s academic calendar. First and second-year students of government colleges in the district are affiliated to Gurugram University, while the third-year students are affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University.

Amid the confusion of reopening, students who visited colleges on Monday were told that formal classes would start from Tuesday. “As per the official notification, classes were supposed to start from today. However, on visiting the college, I was told that classes would start from tomorrow. We were able to meet some teachers though,” said Pooja, a first-year student of Dronacharya Government College. Around 20 students turned up at the college.

Pooja Khullar, principal of Dronacharya Government College, said that while the directorate of higher education had fixed November 16 as the reopening date for colleges across the state, some colleges had given precedence to the academic calendar of the university that they were affiliated with. “In Gurugram, colleges are affiliated to two universities due to which different academic calendars are followed. We saw students coming to the college in small batches throughout the day. They were introduced to the teachers and given an orientation. We will be holding regular classes as per the timetable from tomorrow,” said Khullar.

Commenting on the confusion over the reopening of colleges, Hemant Verma, deputy director (coordination), higher education department, said that colleges were expected to abide by the state directive. “Colleges should have abided by the schedule issued by us. Since many universities observed a holiday on Bhai Dooj, we expect the classes to be regularised from tomorrow,” said Verma.

He said that while some colleges saw students turning up for classes on Monday, a more accurate assessment of the turnout would be available from Tuesday onwards. “Students did visit colleges but as per our understanding, the turnout was relatively low since it was a Bhai Dooj. We will have a better idea about the turnout from tomorrow,” said Verma. He said that universities and colleges had been directed to frame their own SOPs based on the turnout that they see.

Ramesh Garg, principal of Government Girls College, Sector 14, said that the college would be opening for teaching activity from Tuesday. “We have decided to hold both online and offline classes simultaneously from Tuesday. The physical classroom session will be live-streamed for students at home,” said Garg.