Colleges in Maharashtra reopen amid strict COVID-19 guidelines

Action will be taken against colleges that are found to be violating the regulations and not holding sessions as specified in the order, the collector said.

After being shut down for nearly 11 months owing to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the colleges in rural parts of Maharashtra's Thane district reopened today; i.e February 15, 2021. Collector Rajesh Narvekar in order had allowed the reopening of colleges only in rural areas of the district.
The order said only 50 per cent attendance will be allowed in a day and the educational institutions will have to strictly follow all COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Action will be taken against colleges that are found to be violating the regulations and not holding sessions as specified in the order, the collector said. With regard to colleges falling under urban limits, directions of the municipal corporation concerned will be applicable, he said.

Last week, the state government had finally given colleges in Maharashtra permission to reopen for offline classes from February 15. The colleges and universities have now been allowed to reopen with 50 per cent of the total capacity following COVID-19 protocols. The announcement was made by the State Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant. For college students the rule of minimum attendance of 75 per cent will be waived off for this year, the Minister announced.

Along with the delay in reopening of colleges, the Board exams 2021 in the state have also been pushed to later dates owing to COVID-19.  Earlier, the Maharashtra Education minister Varsha Gaikwad had shared the schedule for the Maha HSC, SSC 2021 Examinations via Twitter. Maharashtra HSC Exams 2021 will begin from April 23 while Maha SSC Exams 2021 will begin from April 29. The Maharashtra Board results in 2021 will be announced in July for HSC and August for SSC.

Students of Classes 10th and 12th are advised to go through the Maharashtra HSC syllabus and Maharashtra SSC Syllabus to know topics and chapters they need to cover in order to clear the Board Exams 2021 successfully. 

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