West Bengal’s Minister Of Education Partha Chatterjee said on Sunday that undergraduate classes will be starting from November for first-year college students following the end of the admission process by October. Speaking about this, Chatterjee said that this decision had been taken after an online meeting with vice-chancellors of state universities.
“It has been decided that the new academic year will begin in December. Till November there are several festivals. After Durga Puja in October, there is Kali Puja, Diwali, Bhai Dooj, Chhat Puja and Milad un-Nabi. So there is no point in starting the academic year from November and then observe so many holidays on account of these festivals. Therefore, it is ideal to commence the new academic year from December,” Chatterjee told reporters.
The Minister also added that he has written to the UGC to start the new academic year from December. This comes after the recent notice by it, stating that classes should resume on November 1.
Notably, this is only for Undergraduate courses, as admissions for postgraduate courses are slated to take place until the end of November. Furthermore, close to 80% of seats in postgraduate courses are to be reserved for students who had completed their graduation in an affiliated college of that same University or that institute itself.