The 2021 summer vacation for first-year engineering students at Jadavpur University has been reduced to seven days to make up for the lost time in the session that was supposed to begin in August but will begin digitally on January 11.

At JU, the summer vacation is usually for one-and-a-half months, from the third week of May and till the first week of July, when second-year classes start.

The university has curtailed the summer break so that the syllabus can be completed and classes for the second-year can start from August, in keeping with an advisory from the UGC, a JU official said.

The decision to curtail the vacation was taken at an engineering and technology faculty council meeting on December 20 “in consideration with the current situation of Covid-19 pandemic”.

According to the academic calendar approved at the meeting, once the second semester exams — from July 14 to July 24 — are over, the students will have a seven-day break before second-year classes begin in August.

“We will not be able to complete the courses if we did not cut down on summer vacation. UGC has recommended the academic calendar, factoring in this concern,” said an official of the faculty.

The first-semester exams, usually held in December, will be held in April because the start of the academic session was delayed.

Classes at IIEST, Shibpur and NIT Durgapur, that admit students on the basis of ranks at the JEE-main, started on December 1. JU could not start classes even though the three-phased centralised counselling conducted by the state JEE board had ended in October.

What prevented JU?

“Since 487 out of 1,253 BTech seats remained vacant after the three-phased centralised counselling by the state JEE board, JU had to conduct counselling on its own to fill up the vacancies. Now that the process is over, following a week-long induction programme, classes will start on January 11,” said an official.

AICTE, from last year, has made it mandatory for all engineering institutions to conduct an induction session before classes start.

Engineering students are put through the induction to reinforce the fundamental concepts and strengthen language skills required for technical education.

Over one in three BTech seats remained vacant this year before JU conducted decentralised counselling — an unprecedented situation at JU, considered the premiere engineering institution in Bengal.

Classes will be held on digital platforms because the state government has not given permission for on-campus classes.

“As engineering education involves a regular visit to the workshops and labs, we are worried about the quality of online classes and looking forward to getting a green signal from the government for in-person classes,” said a member of the university’s executive council.

The notice says: “The academic calendar for the 20020-21 academic session has been designed based on the prevalent academic situation. Further changes in this calendar, if required, may be incorporated due to any unavoidable circumstances,”.

The summer vacation for third-year students will be of one-and-a-half months, because the students have to do an internship, the council member said.