Universities Academic Calendar 2020-21, classes to begin from November 1
University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved the revised alternative 2020-21 Academic Calendar for universities. As per the revised academic Calendar, the universities can commence their classes for 1st year from November 1 and no new admissions will be allowed after November 30. According to the previous Academic Calendar released in April, the classes were supposed to begin on September 1.
Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on September 22, 2020, tweeted, “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has accepted the Report of the Committee and approved the UGC Guidelines on Academic Calendar for the First Year of Under-Graduate and Postgraduate Students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21.”
The commencement of a new academic session has been pushed to November 1, because of delay in various entrance exams. Universities can push the start date until November 18 if there is a delay in the results of the entrance exams,
Meanwhile, UGC has directed the institutes to continue to conduct classes online and offline classes or in blended mode. After the commencement of a new academic session, institutions are advised to conduct classes for six days in a week and to curtail the number of holidays to make up for the lost time.
In addition to this, the Education Minister also said that the full fee will be refunded on account of all cancellation of admissions/migration of students before November 30. For withdrawals after this cut-off date but before December 31, institutions can charge 1000/- processing fees and should return the remaining amount.