Coronavirus outbreak: Maha colleges, varsities to be shut till Mar 31

The state government on Monday said all colleges and universities in Maharashtra will be shut and exams will be deferred till March 31. Lecturers, professors and

The state government on Monday said all colleges and universities in Maharashtra will be shut and exams will be deferred till March 31. Lecturers, professors and non-teaching staff of these institutions have been asked to work from home, unless they are asked to report for emergency work. Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant said the decision on extension of the closure will be taken on March 26.

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Samant said all exams conducted by colleges and universities stand postponed. “These include the engineering, law, BEd, DEd and other examinations conducted by the colleges and universities in the state. Hostels at these institutions too will remain shut. Foreign students studying in universities and colleges in Maharashtra will not be allowed to come back immediately, if they have gone to their respective countries,” he said.

Samant said private coaching centres conducting classes for engineering exams and entrance exams too have been directed to shut their operation till March 31. He said appropriate action would be taken against those not following the government directives.

The Maharashtra government’s decision brought relief to students and teachers’ groups. In some cases, admissions, too, will be delayed.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Monday decided to indefinitely defer all admission interviews until further notice. In a statement released on their official website, the institute has stated that admissions to all MA, M Phil and PhD courses has been deferred.

“Taking cognisance of the spread of Covid-19 in the country and health advisories issued on the matter, it has been decided that the pre-interview test and personal interview scheduled from March 16 onwards for admissions to masters programmes 2020 across all the campuses of TISS and admissions to MPhil/PhD are deferred until further notice. The new dates of will be intimated later,” said a statement on the TISS website.

While the state common entrance test (CET) cell recently conducted the entrance exam for MBA/MMS candidates, admissions for the course will begin only in May. Similarly, engineering and undergraduate medical and dental admissions will only take place after May, which is when the entrance exams are scheduled.