When will schools & colleges reopen in India? Here's the latest from the HRD ministry

Across the country, college activities were shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. With educational and economical activities halted, the country is eyeing a return to normalcy. Since June 8, major economic activities are given a green signal in areas out of containment zones. In a recent move, the Union Ministry for Human Resource and Development (HRD) is strategising plans to start colleges outside of containment zones. The HRD Minister declared that the pending results, assessments, marking and evaluations of all colleges in the country will be taken care of by August 15, 2020. The ministry plans to smoothly begin with colleges shortly after the results are declared.

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When will colleges reopen in India? 

The country has opted for new moves in order to revive the economy, shortly after the Unlock-1. The Union Ministry for Human Resource and Development (HRD) aims at catching up on the lost time of the past two months in colleges. In the past three months, the education activities have been majorly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This comes shortly after speculation of educational institutions opening up in July did the rounds after the HRD Ministry announced dates for the final exams of all educational institutions in the country. As per latest updates, after August 15, colleges may be allowed to re-open following guidelines set by the ministry. 

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Ramesh Pokhriyal on colleges reopening

HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal revealed in a statement made to the press that all colleges will be started in a phased manner. There will be strict guidelines applied to the zones following the coronavirus cases density in the area. The colleges in Green Zones and Orange Zones will start first. Announcements for Red zones are yet to be made. The colleges will have to follow strict norms of social distancing, sanitization and hygiene. If required, classes must be conducted in two batches, morning and evening to reduce the strength of the college students and increase the social distancing factor.

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'Colleges reopening' news and other details 

After the Union HRD Ministry made statements of starting colleges in the month of August in a planned and phased manner, many colleges have started with the online admission procedures. The tests for the entrance and admission will be taken online for many of the courses. The colleges will conduct all the admission procedure online, to avoid the hassle of travelling during the coronavirus situation in the country. Students awaiting results of 12th standard can still send in applications, signing a letter of submitting the results whenever it is out. In the Mumbai University, the arts, commerce and science stream admissions have started.

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