State may tweak academic calendar of colleges, univs

Hemanta Pradhan | TNN | Apr 14, 2020, 04:03 IST

Bhubaneswar: The government may tweak the academic calendar of colleges and universities in the state in view of the lockdown because the admission process will get delayed by at least two months owing to the inordinate delay in holding examinations and evaluating answer scripts.
“According to the calendar, we had planned to invite applications for admissions into different bachelor’s degree and master’s degree courses from the end of April. But owing to the lockdown and the Covid-19 situation, this process may start after June 17,” Asoka Das, vice chairman of the Odisha State Higher Education Council, said.
Higher education department sources said Berhampur University had completed it’s examinations before the imposition of the lockdown. The Fakir Mohan University had completed the examinations of most of the courses, but other universities and their affiliated colleges are yet to conduct many examinations.
A university has to conduct examinations and evaluation of answer sheets before starting the admission process.
Das further said universities had followed the deadline very well this year, but the Covid-19 situation affected the schedule. “We can adjust the loss of two months for the students, who are planning to continue their studies in Odisha. We can even manage the loss of students, who are not in the final year of their respective courses. We are worried about the students interested in pursuing higher education in institutions outside the state. These students will face problems if we do not complete the examination and evaluation of answer papers on time,” Das said.
He added that they are all concerned about the well-being of the students instead of forcibly starting the examinations and admission processes. “Life is more important than the admissions. The government will take the necessary decision after the lockdown is lifted,” he said.
Das added that the University Grants Commission (UGC) will work out something to solve problems arising owing to the the delay. “I have written a letter to UGC chairman DP Singh requesting him to give us a directive on examinations and national-level admissions,” he added.
On the e-learning system, Das said teachers are helping the students get course materials like notes through WhatsApp and other social networking applications. They are also providing them assistance on different chapters of a subject online. “I again appeal to teachers to help students clear their doubts on different subjects over phone or through videocall and other networking applications. The teaching and learning should continue during this lockdown period,” he added.
Several students don’t have access to online education or e-learning system owing to poor network in rural areas.