Good news! Colleges reopen in Chandigarh, only vaccinated students allowed to attend classes

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Administration on Wednesday re-opened the colleges across the Union Territory, nearly a year after they were closed due to the COVID-19 surge.

The Higher Education Department of Chandigarh had earlier announced that it will reopen colleges for the ongoing batches from August 11 in view of declining COVID-19 cases.

The reopening of colleges brought back smiles on the face of several students, who welcomed the move wholeheartedly. "It is a great feeling to be back again in college. Offline lectures are better than online classes," Iqbalpreet Singh, a student of Guru Gobind Singh College, said.

Colleges reopen in Chandigarh from today after more than a year due to COVID

"It is a great feeling to be back again in college. Offline lectures are better than online classes," says Iqbalpreet Singh, student of Guru Gobind Singh College pic.twitter.com/P8mrt4VwJt

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2021

An order issued by the Directorate of Higher Education, Chandigarh Administration said, “the hybrid mode (online and offline) of teaching can be adopted by the head of the institute, wherever required.”

“It has been decided to open the institutions of higher education for the ongoing classes on or after August 11, as per their academic calendar,” the order stated. It added that only those students who have received at least one dose of vaccine, at least two weeks ago, will be allowed to attend physical classes. 

The decision regarding the exemption from vaccination (due to medical conditions only) has to be taken by the college head.

All higher education institutes were directed to follow COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour and use a hybrid model of teaching (offline+online), taking into consideration the academic requirements, circumstances, infrastructure of the Institution, said the notice.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to shut schools, except for residential ones, till August 22 amid the looming threat of a possible third COVID-19 wave. The government had reopened schools for Classes 10, 11 and 12 earlier.