Education in new normal: Institutes prepare new academic calendar as per UGC guidelines

While some institutes have already started the new academic session, others are hoping to begin as per the stipulated time

University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently released the academic calendar for the 2020-21 academic session. As per the guidelines, the admissions to the first-year undergraduate and postgraduate programme should be completed by October 31, 2020 and no admissions will be allowed beyond November 30.

Admissions in DU will begin as and when the DU administration releases the admission guidelines, says Bijaylaxmi Nanda, principal, Miranda House.

“We will release the first cut off once the DU administration issues the detailed guidelines. The admissions, this year, will have to be monitored by forensic examination of students’ certificates. Guidelines will also be released for the mode of conducting classes for the new academic year. Special arrangements will be formulated in case classes are held at the campus. We may also have to rework the curriculum to complete the session in the remaining period,” she says.

Agreeing with the UGC guidelines for starting the new academic year by November 1, Mahadeo Jaiswal, director, IIM Sambalpur, says, “Academic sessions should continue with all safety precautions and guidelines, using the online or blended mode. Students should not undergo a year loss due to zero academic year.”https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bennettjul2020_form_edutimes.cms

The institute started its academic year in August 2020 in the online mode and the end term examinations were conducted through the online proctoring system. For all the future exams at the institute, the management is planning to implement the same online proctoring methodology.

“Online tests offer transparency and with the help of Artificial Intelligence, there is no scope of human error in invigilation. This also reduces wastage of paper, thus we plan to conduct online examinations, even after we reopen once the circumstances normalise,” he says.

As per the UGC guidelines, the exams for the first semester should be conducted from March 8-26, 2021.

At BML Munjal University, the classes for the new students in all undergraduate programmes will begin from October onwards. The upcoming session at the university will be conducted online.

“The admission process is still on and will be closed before the date announced by the UGC. We have prepared separate academic calendars for each programme for existing as well as new batches of students. Depending upon the total number of teaching hours, as per UGC guidelines, we have released the dates of examinations in the respective academic calendar. The examinations will be held online or in person, as per prevailing situation,” says Manoj K Arora, vice chancellor, BMU.

Source: Education times (TOI)