Covid-19 unlock: Universities, degree colleges reopen from today in Uttar Pradesh

Even as Coronavirus cases witnessing an increase in some regions of the state, universities and degree colleges in Uttar Pradesh have reopened from today, news agency ANI reported. Educational institutes in the state were closed since March after the Coronavirus outbreak in the country. The government finally had given its go-ahead to open universities and colleges in the state after a consistent drop in the number of Coronavirus cases was reported till a fortnight ago.

According to the guidelines issued by the state government, students will be allowed to attend the classes on alternate days based on a roster made by the college authorities. A bar on the number of students who can attend a class at any given point in time has also been set at 200 by the government among its guidelines. In different regions of the state, students could be seen approaching their colleges and universities. However, the colleges bore a deserted look as only a few students reached their colleges on the first day of re-opening.

In Gorakhpur’s Deen Dayal Upadhyaya University, students were seen outside the university campus. One of the students who reached the university told news agency ANI that she felt nice to be back at the university. The students also said that they are ready to diligently follow all the Covid-19 and physical distancing guidelines at the premises of the campus.

However, even as educational institutions limp back to functioning normally, the spectre of the second wave of Coronavirus cases in the country might impede the functioning of the institutions. A special central team has also been dispatched to guide and supervise the measures being taken by the Uttar Pradesh government to control the rise in the number of cases. Many states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh have also imposed night curfew to stem the rise in the Coronavirus infection.