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Telangana extends holidays for educational institutions amid Covid spike
The educational institutions are supposed to reopen on Monday after a week-long vacation for Sankranti festival. In fact, the vacations should have started on January 11, but the state government advanced them from January 8
The Telangana government on Sunday announced extension of holidays for all educational institutions in the state till January 30 following a steady rise in Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks.
The educational institutions are supposed to reopen on Monday after a week-long vacation for Sankranti festival. In fact, the vacations should have started on January 11, but the state government advanced them from January 8.
“Now, with the third wave of Covid-19 is gradually peaking, the government has decided to extend the holidays for the educational institutions till January 30,” stated an order issued by chief secretary Somesh Kumar.
By Saturday evening, Telangana reported 1,963 positive cases as active cases mounted to 22,017.
All universities in Telangana announced closure of institutions till January 30. As a result, all the examinations scheduled to be held this month, including semester examinations in degree colleges, have been indefinitely postponed.
Osmania University, however, announced that it would conduct on-line classes for the graduate and post-graduate students till the month-end. At the same time, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad also announced that all the colleges under its purview would conduct online classes from January 17.
According to a circular issued by the university, classes for UG/PG courses-BTech/BPharm I and II years, MTech/MPharm I and II years, MBA/MCA I and II years, Pharm D I, II, III, IV, and V years, and Pharm D (PB) I and II years will be conducted online.
Mid-exams for Pharm D/Pharm D (PB) II years scheduled from January 17 to 22 could be conducted during second spell of instructions as per the convenience of the colleges, it said.
No extension of holidays in Andhra
The Andhra Pradesh government declared that the schools will be reopened on Monday. “There is no extension of Sankranti holidays for educational institutions in the state,” state education minister Adimulapu Suresh said in a statement.
He said the decision was taken after an extensive discussion in the education department. The government felt that closure of schools and colleges would affect the academic schedule. “All precautions would be taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.
As on Sunday morning, Andhra Pradesh reported 4,570 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The total number of active cases in the state is 26,770, a bulletin from the state government said.
