The Education Ministry on Tuesday released a new calendar for the 2020-21 academic year. The ministry has approved the UGC guidelines on the calendar for the UG and PG first-year students.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank made the announcement on Twitter. Classes for students will begin on November 1st as per the new calendar.
New academic calendar for 2020-2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, there has been a delay in the start of the academic year. However, after much confusion and uncertainty, the ministry announced a new calendar.
The education minister said on Twitter, "In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has accepted the Report of the Committee and approved the @ugc_india Guidelines on Academic Calendar for the First Year of Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21."
This time classes will begin on November 1st, with the semester break commencing at the end of March.
| Admission Process (To be completed) | 31.10.2020 |
| Commencement of Classes of above students Fresh batch (First Semester/Year) | 01.11.2020 |
| Preparation Break | 01.03.2021 to 07.03.2021 |
| Conduct of Examinations | 08.03.2021 to 26.03.2021 |
| Semester Break | 27.03.2021 to 04.04.2021 |
| Commencement of Classes for Even Semester | 5.04.2021 |
| Preparation Break | 01.08.2021 to 08.08.2021 |
| Conduct of Examinations | 09.08.2021 to 21.08.2021 |
| Semester Break | 22.08.2021 to 29.08.2021 |
| Commencement of Next Academic Session for this batch | 30.08.2021 |
It will surely take students time to adjust to the new calendar.
The ministry has also guaranteed a full refund on cancellation of admission to students in 2020-21. The minister wrote, "To avoid financial hardship being faced by the parents due to lockdown and related factors, a full refund of fees will be made on account of all cancellation of admissions/ migration of students, up to 30.11.2020, for this very session as a special case."
The ministry has now advised all colleges to hold classes six days a week to make up for the lost hours and learning.
