Attendance in Pune schools increases, but SPPU puts off reopening colleges

Despite the number of schools that have reopened in the city increasing daily, just three days after announcing that offline lectures will start for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students across colleges, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has cancelled the decision.

In a circular issued late on Thursday, the administration asked city colleges to get ready to reopen classrooms and make all arrangements as per norms of University Grants Commission (UGC). But it revoked the circular dated January 4 stating colleges will reopen on January 11. In its new circular, SPPU has asked colleges to wait for a new date.

At the same time, the PMC has recorded that 235 out of 529 schools in its jurisdiction reopened by Thursday; the number was just 44 on January 4. As normalcy returns to school classrooms, university and college students are now facing uncertainty over the prospect of returning to campus.

Prof N S Umrani, Pro Vice- Chancellor of SPPU said “After issuing the circular regarding January 11, we realised that colleges needed time to prepare. Hence, we decided to give them that time. The new date will be communicated.” Sources at the university, however, said the reason for rescheduling was that the state government’s approval was not sought while announcing the date for the reopening of offline classes, especially at a time when the Disaster Management Act was in place and permission must be sought. Umrani said, “In the meanwhile, we will seek those approvals as well.”

Attendance in Pune schools increases, but SPPU puts off reopening colleges

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