Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh on Saturday said schools in the State will reopen on Monday (November 2) and classes would be conducted in strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines.
At a press conference here, the Minister released the academic calendar for schools and colleges. He said for students of Classes 9, 10 and Intermediate second year (Class 12), classes would commence on November 2, for Intermediate first year (Class 11) students on November 16, for students of Classes 6, 7 and 8 on November 23 and for students of 1 to 5 classes on December 14. Residential schools and hostels would reopen on November 23.
The academic year 2020-21 will conclude in August next year. Schools will have 180 working days.
For Intermediate first year, the first term classes will be conducted from November 16 to January 30, 2021 and the second term from February 1 to April 23. Students will write their theory exams in the last week of March.
For Inter second year, the first term classes will start from November 2 and run up to January 9 and the second term will be from January 11 to April 23. The students will appear for practical exams in the first week of March and theory exams in the last week of March.
Degree, PG courses
The classes for degree and professional courses like B. Tech and postgraduate courses will start on November 2. Among non-professional courses, students in the third and fifth semester will attend classes from November 2, write their internal exams from December 1 to 5 and appear for semester-end exams on March 8.
Classes for students in semesters 4 and 6 will commence on March 25. Students will write their internal exams from June 1 to 5 and semester-end exams from August 9.
The academic year for students in the third, fifth and seventh semester of B.Tech and B. Pharmacy courses will start from November 2. Their internal exams will be held from December 1 to 5 and semester-end exams from March 8.
Similarly, classes for students in the fourth, sixth and eighth semesters will start from March 25. Their internal exams would be from June 1 to 5 and semester-end exams from August 9.
With regard to postgraduate courses, students in the third semester will attend classes from November 2, write their internal exams from December 1 to 5 and semester-end exams from March 8.
Classes for students who are in their fourth semester will start from March 25, their internal exams would be from June 1 to 5 and semester-end exams from August 9.
The Minister said the academic schedule for the first year of PG courses would be released soon.
Fee structure
Pointing to the fact that the government had slashed the tuition fees in private institutions by 30%, he said only 70% tuition fees should be collected by private and corporate colleges.
The parents who had paid full fees could claim refund, he said, warning that the government would take stringent action against the managements which collected excess fees.
He said a total of 6.3 lakh students passed SSC exams and there were 5.83 lakh seats available for them in government and private colleges in the State.
The Minister said in view of reduction in the academic working days due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the syllabus had been reduced by 35%.
