Colleges and universities re-opened across Maharashtra on Wednesday after being closed for over 18 months due to the pandemic.
State Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant had earlier said students must be fully vaccinated to attend the classes.
‘Full vaccination’ criteria
Most colleges are continuing with the online lectures facility or for students unable to attend physical classes because of not being able to fulfil the ‘full vaccination’ criteria.
The State Government has allowed all non-agricultural colleges, State-run, deemed and self-financed universities and colleges affiliated to them to hold physical classes.
Mr. Samant had last week mandated the universities to issue the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to colleges affiliated to it.
As per its SOPs, classrooms can have only 50% students of the total capacity while colleges should give the students the option for online or offline sessions. The institutes should keep a record of vaccination certificates of every student and staff attending the physical sessions.
Health Minister Rajesh Tope has urged colleges and universities to think of setting up vaccination camps after discussions with the local administration to increase the pace of vaccination.
Post-vaccination care
“Students must get inoculated. Special drives can be set up by varsity authorities in collaboration with the local administration. Care will also have to be taken in the post-vaccination stage, in the event students experience any discomfort,” Mr. Tope had earlier said.
The Government’s decision to resume physical classes follows its phased re-opening of educational institutions.
On October 4, physical sessions for students of Classes V to XII in rural areas and VIII to XII in urban pockets resumed after more than a year and a half.
Maharashtra’s cases have been witnessing a declining trend for the last four months, with the active case tally now standing at a little over 26,000.