Vikash Sharma

Ahead of the admissions into the first year courses/programmes for academic session 2021-2022, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued Guidelines on examinations and academic calendar in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In view of the financial hardships being faced by parents due to lockdowns and related factors, a full refund of fees should be made on account of all cancellations of admissions/ migrations of students up to October 31, 2021 for the academic session 2021- 2022 as a special case.

UGC has clearly instructed that the entire fees, including all charges, should be refunded (i.e. there should be zero cancellation charges) on account of cancellations/ migrations up to October 31, 2021.

“Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to December 31, 2021, the entire fee collected from a student should be refunded in full after deducting not more than Rs.1000/- as processing fee,” the guidelines read.

As per the examination guidelines and academic calendar for the new session of 2021-22, UGC has directed higher education institutions to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocols.

As per the notice, admissions to first-year courses for 2021-22 has to be completed by no later than September 30 and new academic session to commence by October 1, 2021.

The provisions contained in the UGC guidelines dated 24.09.2020 shall be applicable for the academic session 2021-2022. For students of the intermediate semester/year, the Higher Education Institutions may start their academic session (in online/offline/blended mode) as early as possible, following the guidelines/directions related to the COVID-19 pandemic issued by the appropriate government/competent authority.

“The present guidelines are subject to the advisories/directives issued by the apex statutory bodies/councils concerned, e.g., AICTE, NCTE, BCI, NMC, DCI, INC, PCI, AYUSH etc. regarding examinations and academic calendars,” the revised guidelines added.

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