The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) that had in early January asked students to vacate hostels following a fresh spike of cases is starting offline classes from February 21 and has given students two weeks from February 7 to return to the campus.
The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata in Kalyani, located around 55km north of Kolkata, which had stalled its plan to give students at the undergraduate level the option of coming to the campus following the surge in cases, is resuming the recall plan from next week.
Classes will continue to be held over digital platforms and the institute’s senate will meet after the mid-semester exam in late February to take a call on whether offline classes can start in March, said an IISER official.
IIEST, Shibpur, which had vacated hostels in January, is going to reopen the hostels from mid-February.
The central academic institutions are taking steps to restore normality on campuses after the Bengal government allowed reopening from February 3.
“All classes at the... campus, except those with outstation teachers and/or participating students from other centres, will be in the fully offline mode from February 21, Monday,” a notice signed by the dean of students Debasis Sengupta at ISI Kolkata said.
The February 2 notice said: “In order to ensure smooth transition to the offline mode, and to allow the students some time to move to hostels, the teachers may choose to offer classes either in the fully online mode or mixed mode till February 18.”
Students and scholars willing to return to the hostels have been asked to write to dean@isical.ac.in.
A notice to vacate the hostels was issued by Sengupta on January 4, a day after the Bengal education department ordered the closure of the campuses.
Though the institute is not a residential institute, about 500-odd students from states outside Bengal and abroad are provided accommodation.
The dean of students at IISER, Balaram Mukhopadhyay, said they would give students a chance to return to the campus from February 7.
“Since the mid-semester exams will be held from February 21, the students who voluntarily return will stay at the WiFi-enabled hostels to attend classes and write exams over digital platforms. Then the institute’s senate will meet to decide on the mode of classes,” he said.
IIEST Shibpur has decided to recall students in a phased manner from mid-February, said an official. The decision was taken at a meeting of the institute’s senate on Thursday.
Debabrata Majumder, dean of students, IIEST, Shibpur, said even as students return to campus, classes of the ongoing semester will continue online.
“In the first phase, the BTech fourth year would be recalled, then the third- and second-year students, respectively,” the official said.