Colleges across West Bengal have initiated the process of admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses with the State government issuing a timeline for the same.
Like last year, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the admission process will be conducted online and students will not be required to pay application fees. Colleges are busy holding internal online meetings to decide on online gateways for payment of admission fees and whether they should offer any discount to students because of the pandemic.
Last year, the decision to waive off the application fees was taken by the State government well after the receipt of applications by colleges, which had a tough time refunding the amount to applicants. This year there is clarity beforehand, with the guidelines being issued more than a week before results of State board exams could be declared.
The online portal for undergraduate courses will open on August 2 and the admissions are to be completed by September 30. For postgraduate courses, the respective dates are September 1 and October 25.
“Online admission process should be done based on merit. Prospective students should not be called for counselling or verification of documents during the process of admission. No physical presence will be required at the college/university,” the July 13 government order said.
“All testimonials are required to be uploaded online during application. Verification of documents, if required, should be done only when the students report for classes in due course. Admission will be cancelled if the documents are found not in conformity with the declaration in the forms submitted online,” the order said.
