New Delhi:Ā Universities and colleges may complete their admission process by the end of October and the new academic session for first-year students will likely begin from 1 November, according to draft guidelines on the academic year prepared by higher education regulator University Grants Commission.
The UGC has once again revised the academic calendar for first-year students, or freshers, in colleges and universities due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases across India.
According to the latest calendar, the academic session for freshers will now begin in November instead of September, and the delay will spill over to the next academic session as well.
To avoid financial hardship being faced by parents due to restrictions brought on by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, full refund of fee will be made on account of cancellation of admissions up to 30 November, the draft guidelines have suggested.
The commissionās draft guidelines have suggested that educational institutions adopt a six-day week instead of the current five-day week and also curtail vacations to make up for lost time and ensure they get their final results on time.
In order to compensate for the loss of academic time, the UGC has asked colleges to teach six days a week, without any summer or winter break, for the next two academic sessions.
‘The start of first year of academic session 2020-2021 is delayed due to the circumstances beyond control but efforts be made to compensate the loss of this period by curtailing the breaks (Summer, Winter etc). This would ensure that these students would timely complete their 3 year UG/ PG programme,’ the UGC communicated to colleges.
‘All the universities may follow a 6-day week pattern for the academic session 2020-21 and 2021-2022 to compensate the loss for this batch of students,’ it added.