The state government has done its bit for safety by asking colleges and universities to shut down till April 14, but the onus is on teachers and students to handle the academic loss.

While privately run Arka Jain University in Gamharia has decided to take classes on Skype, most state-run colleges and varsities are clueless on how to minimise delays in the academic calendar.

Vice chancellor of Arka Jain University, S.S. Razi, told The Telegraph that technology would come to their rescue.

“We will take classes through platforms like Skype. On Wednesday, the faculty unanimously agreed to take classes online. All heads of departments have been asked to consult teachers and create soft copies of the study material to be uploaded for students to access later,” Razi said.

It is a different story for state-run institutions that are not tech-savvy. A source admitted that a state university had a holiday of around 105 days in an academic year, which now was extended by almost a month.

Satyendra Narayan Singh, vice chancellor of Nilamber Pitamber University in Daltonganj, said: “In view of risks, this (shutdown) was perhaps the best thing to do. Once things are normal, we may collectively decide on a solution (to reduce the academic lag).”

In colleges, permanent and guest teachers are reporting daily. Guest faculty are paid per class, but without classes, there is no clarity on their pay.

JVM Shyamali in Ranchi was trolled on Twitter for keeping a Class III entrance test on Thursday. Principal Samarjit Jana said it wasn’t cancelled because it was scheduled earlier.

Also, many private schools in Ranchi and Jamshedpur have asked their teachers to report for duty. B. Chandrashekhar, secretary of Jharkhand Unaided Private Schools and Educational Institutions, said there were some jobs such as PT meetings and report card distribution, but after a couple of days teachers would be asked to stay home.