Regular classes for the students of Presidency University in the intermediate semesters will start on October 1 and “the mode of teaching-learning process may be designed by the departments in an efficient and innovative manner in order to maintain ‘social distancing’, safety and health of students,” says a notice.

A notice issued by the registrar said one of such effective modes may be distant-digital mode, which Jadavpur University is following.

Classes for the incoming first-year students both in undergraduate and postgraduate level are unlikely to start before the first week of December, as was discussed in Sunday’s virtual meeting education minister Partha Chatterjee had with the vice-chancellors.

As in-person classes cannot be held because of Covid-19, the Presidency authorities have advised the departments to adopt alternative modes and methods in compliance with the requirements of the choice-based credit system, said an official of the university.

Presidency vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia said the teachers could take live online classes so long as the students did not encounter any connectivity issues and had adequate access to the devices.

“We have left it to the teachers to devise the method. It could be live online classes or the distant digital mode, dealing with a particular real-time situation,” Lohia told Metro.

Distant digital model will entail uploading the lectures and other classroom demonstrations on the university’s central repository, which the students will download according to their convenience.

Lohia said that if required, lectures could be uploaded on YouTube and links shared with students.

Classes of the previous semesters could not be completed at Presidency as the Covid outbreak forced the authorities to shut down the campus on March 16. “The syllabus has been structured in a way that the unfinished modules of the previous semesters will be taken care of once classes start on October 1,” a teacher said.