Amidst the massive surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Government has decided to halt physical classes in colleges and universities in the state till February 15, 2022. Minister of Higher and Technical Education of Maharashtra state, Uday Samant announced the decision to pull the plug on physical classes in colleges and universities on Wednesday.
In addition to this, Minister Samant also declared the online conduct of examinations that have been lined up till February 15, excluding three universities-namely Gondwana, Jalgaon and Nanded, a dearth of power supply is a major issue.
Along with this, the Maharashtra Government has ordered the presence of only 50% teaching and non-teaching staff at colleges and universities, on a rotation basis, while the remaining staff members shall work from home.
Minister Samant declared the aforementioned decision in a virtual address.
"It is of utmost importance for us to ensure the safety of students, teaching and non-teaching staff. Hence, following the directives of Maharashtra CM, we have decided to revert to online classes for college and university students till February 15, 2022 while the physical classes will stand suspended. Exams lined up till February 15, 2022 shall also be held online. Decisions regarding the conduct of examinations scheduled after February 15 shall be made later", Minister Samant said in his virtual address.
Notably, Minister Samant chaired a review meeting with District Collectors, Divisional Commissioners and Vice-chancellors of various universities to take stock of the ground situation prevailing due to Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, other states have also taken to shutting down colleges, universities, schoools and educational institutions to keep the Covid infections at bay, which include Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Telangana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Goa and Uttar Pradesh.