Some government and aided colleges have decided to hold classes — online or offline — during the Puja vacation to prepare students, who will be admitted till September 30, for the first-semester examination due in January.

The higher education department has asked colleges to fill vacant undergraduate seats on their own by the end of this month after the completion of the centralised online admission process on September 7.

The department is conducting the process.

Seuli Sarkar, the principal of Lady Brabourne College, said they have decided to hold classes during the Puja vacation so the students getting admission late can be prepared.

“The Puja vacation in government colleges starting from October 1 remains in force till mid-November. However, some of the departments, particularly those which are lab-based, have proposed to hold classes after Lakshmi Puja. If these students cannot be prepared through the additional or special classes, they will not be able to write the first-semester examination,” she said.

The department launched the centralised admission system on June 24 over a month-and-a-half after the publication of Class-II board results.

But close to four lakh seats are expected to remain vacant after the completion of the process.

Principal Sarkar said out of 750 seats, at least 300 seats are expected to remain vacant and they have to fill the vacancy by September 30.

“Those who took admission after the first round of the centralised admission process have started attending classes from August 7. We are worried about how we will complete the syllabus for those who are going to take admission after September 7. Out of this concern, some of the departments mostly those which are lab-based have decided to offline classes during the Puja vacation,” Sarkar told Metro.

“We will issue a notice towards the end of September.”

Manas Kabi, the principal of Asutosh College said, of 3,300 seats around 2,000 seats have been filled up,” he said.

“I have decided to request the heads of the departments to hold online classes during the Puja vacation for these students. We want the university to hold the first-semester examinations towards the end of January or early February next year because the delay will give the colleges adequate time to complete the syllabus, particularly for those who will be enrolled later,” said Kabi.

“After Puja, there will be the winter vacation. How can the syllabus be completed if we don’t get enough class hours?”

The department launched the centralised admission system on June 24 for 461 colleges and 16 state-aided universities offering 7,217 courses for a little over 9 lakh seats.

Until last year, colleges enrolled students independently through their stand-alone portals.

One of the stated purposes behind the launch of the centralised online portal was to ensure that fewer seats remained vacant.

A delayed start of the admission process coupled with the fact that much before the launch of the centralised portal, colleges like the Scottish Church College, St Xavier’s College and Loreto College started receiving applications, only ensured that a large number of seats remained vacant after the admission process, said a member of the All Bengal Principal Council.

Joydeep Sarangi, the principal of New Alipore College, said: “We will hold offline classes in the lab-based subjects during the Puja vacation for those who will enrol after September 7.”