Jadavpur University has announced that all academic activities — including internal exams, seminars and field trips by teachers, researcher scholars and students — “will remain suspended” till April 15.

The notice announcing the suspension of academic activities also states that all offices, except those of the vice-chancellor, registrar, finance officer and the controller of examinations will remain closed.

The notice, signed by VC Suranjan Das, advises students against entering the campus. “But they are advised to keep in touch with their teachers through emails to maintain their academic programmes,” the notice reads.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday clarified to the VCs of all state-aided universities that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had instructed closure of all educational institutions till April 15.

Das issued the notice after chairing a meeting of JU officials on Wednesday afternoon.

An official said the university would take steps to minimise chances of the staff turning up for essential duties getting infected on the campus.

“The employees engaged in maintaining essential services like security, electricity, water, cleaning and IT will be compensated according to university rules. A roster service for such employees will be prepared by the registrar,” said the official.

An official said the employees who would attend office for essential duties would be brought under an insurance scheme the chief minister had announced on Monday.

Around the time the notice was issued, a professor of the English department held online classes. Abhijit Gupta, a former head of the English department, conducted MPhil classes over Skype on “Orality and Literacy”.

Gupta held the classes from the office of JU Press (publication), which is located in a building adjacent to gate number 2.

“This was my first attempt at holding a class through Skype. Eight students attended the class for over one-and-a-half hours. I will take postgraduate classes through this mode on Friday,” said Gupta.

The JU notice says the members of the faculty and research scholars “are strongly advised” against visiting their their respective departments.

“But for any emergency access to research laboratories, the concerned faculty members are required to take prior permission of the registrar through a specific format...” the notice says.

Several of the VCs who attended Tuesday’s meeting with minister Chatterjee were worried they would not be able to cover the syllabus because of the closure order.

“The VCs are worried about how the syllabus will be completed before the semester exams in May. Classes will not be held for a month,” an official said.