A Government order, which was issued, said that as there has been an increase in the spread of COVID-19 infection, especially in educational institutions, a meeting was held with the Vice-Chancellors of all universities under the aegis of the Higher Education department, the Director of Technical Education and the Director of Collegiate Education on Wednesday regarding the situation and the plan for the academic year was discussed. 

“The V-Cs opined that 80% of the syllabus has been covered. For Science students, practical classes and examination have been going on,” it said adding that the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has also suggested that reports are emerging on clusters from colleges and hostels. Considering trends in many states, these clusters have the potential to spread disease in their place of residence and the surrounding community, the order mentioned. The Higher Education Department said that after careful examination of the situation, it has directed all the higher educational institutions under the control of the government and deemed universities to conduct classes online from March 23 onwards with six days working. “All practical classes and examinations for Science, engineering, and polytechnic students shall be completed before March 31, especially for the final semester pupils,” it said adding that the semester exam would be conducted online. Welcoming the government decision, N Pasupathy, president of, Association of University Teachers (AUT) told DT Next that it was a good move by the government. 

“It’s better to declare holidays for students as most of the colleges have already completed physical semester exams for the students,” he said. He added that it was also very difficult to maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) among the students.