As per the timeline for e-admissions into UG courses in Higher Educational Institutions for the academic year 2022-23, the Online Common Application Form (CAF) will be made available on SAMS Odisha website from August 11, 2022.
The last date of applying online CAF through the official website is August 25, 2022.
Important Dates:
Publication of First Selection Merit List: August 31
Admission and online data updation of admitted students in First Selection: September 2 to September 5
Filling up of Slide-Up Option Form online by admitted students: September 2 to September 5
Publication of Second Selection Merit List: September 11
Admission and online data updation of admitted students in Second Selection: September 12 to September 14
Publication of vacant seats in SAMS website: September 16
Complete Verification regarding the vacancy position in differenl subjects by the HEIs in HEIs e-Space for verification at the level of SAMS: September 16 to September 17
Availability for filling of CAF (SPOT) in the existing Applicant's login: September 19
Document verification & admission of the selected applicants: September 26 to September 28
The recognition of these institutions was withdrawn two years back primarily due to lack of required number of teachers.
Expressing concern over it, Principal Secretary of Higher Education department Saswat Mishra on Friday wrote to the Chairman of the NCTE.
Mishra informed the NCTE that recruitment of teachers has been started by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC). So far, 67 teachers of Geography, Mathematics, Political Science and Botany have already joined TEIs, 36 teachers of History and Economics subjects have been issued appointment orders. Moreover, selection of 45 teachers of English and Chemistry has been completed and appointment of teachers in other subjects will be over soon.
“Odisha is the only state which has only the government Teacher Training Institutions to cater the needs of trained teachers for elementary, secondary and higher secondary stages. Due to withdrawal of recognition from TEIs, it has become impossible to meet the demand of the state for trained teachers”, said Mishra.
He requested NCTE to kindly consider the appeal petitions made by the 16 TEIs for restoration of recognition in their favour for their earlier approved intake strength of B.Ed, BH.Ed and ME.d courses for the 2022-23 academic session.
It is learnt that the NCTE will hear the petitions of the TEIs on July 23 and 24.
According to the notification, the Common PG Entrance Test-2022 will start from August 1 and will continue till August 13.
In the entrance test, there will be three sessions- Session-1 (from 10 am to 11.30 am), Session-2 from (12.30 pm to 2 pm) and Session-3 from 3 pm to 4.30 pm). However, PwD students will be given additional 30 minutes to write in the examination.
Below is the schedule:
Taking the incident seriously, Sonepur Superintendent of Police (SP) on Saturday began probe into it.
It was learnt from the investigation that the fund was transferred to savings account of a resident of West Bengal through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) on June 7.
Acting on a complaint filed by college principal, Sonepur police registered a case and SP launched a probe into it. Higher Education department and additional collector have also been intimated about it.
According to the complaint, the college saving account had Rs 91, 44,378 from which Rs70, 42,900 was withdrawn through a fake cheque and transferred to West Bengal-based person.
Santosh Mohapatra, IDP coordinator, said, “We never transfer our funds into individual account. We came to a conclusion after police investigation that bank officials are completely involved in it. As we know cheques with overwriting are not entertained by the banks. But in this case, the bank approved the transfer of funds though overwriting was done on it."
Sonepur College Principal Rajeeb Lochan Acharya said “A racket may be behind the fund transfer. But we are not sure about it. SP is investigating the matter. So, we are hope truth will be out soon.”
As per sources, the department is mulling a mechanism to provide College Leaving Certificates (CLC) to students through OTP (One Time Password). Usually, students face a lot of problems in submitting CLC in case of changing educational institutions as well as completing formalities during +3 admissions.
A detailed discussion on various aspects related to +3 admissions for 2022-23 session and CLC through OTP will be taken up at the crucial meeting convened by the higher education department on May 10, sources said.
A review of the admissions in 2021-22 will be done during the crucial conference along with some modifications to the Common Application Forms (CAF). Sources said deliberations on admissions for the 2022-23 academic session, fee structure, verification of the persons with disability certificates and online verification of caste and other certificates submitted by the students will be done at the meeting.
A review of the existing seats in various hostels for boys and girls will also be done during the scheduled meeting which will be attended by regional education directors, head of the institutions and officials.
According to sources, the Higher Education department is likely to make an announcement in this regard soon after a review.
The department will discuss regarding teaching, examinations and declaration of results during the review meeting before announcing the summer vacation for college and university students in the State, sources informed.
Notably, Odisha government on Saturday announced to cut short summer vacation for school students as part of the strategy to make up the academic loss.
As per the decision of the School and Mass Education department, the summer vacations will start from June 6 and continue till June 16. With this, the summer break has now been restricted to 10 days.
Besides, the State government has also announced that the morning classes will continue in the State. As per the latest notification, the morning classes will be conducted from 6 am to 9 am from May 1 and continue till June 5.
The missive came after Odisha Governor and Chancellor of Universities, Professor Ganeshi Lal directed all the State Public Universities not to allow any new Self Finance Courses (SFCs) on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
The Chancellor of Universities has asked the institutions to refrain from launching any such courses from the ensuing academic year 2022-23.
In a letter to registrars of universities on Tuesday, Principal Secretary to the Chancellor, Saswat Mishra said, “The Chancellor has expressed his serious concern regarding the manner in which SFCs are currently being run in State Public Universities; especially the way Self Finance Courses tend to over-shadow the 'Regular Courses' of the Universities concerned.”
Chhatra Congress activists hurl tomatoes at Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo’s residence
Other directions issued by the Chancellor to streamline Self Finance Courses:
- State Public Universities should fully concentrate on running high-quality 'Regular Courses' to benefit students of the 'Regular Courses' who normally hail from economically weaker households.
- The universities may consider running, to a limited extent, a few Self Finance Courses if there is a need.
- The student strength of all SFCs (Direct as well as PPP mode) put together shall not exceed 20% of the total student strength of all Regular Courses. For example, if a University has a student strength of 600 per year in all Regular Courses taken together, it can run SFCs for maximum intake student strength of 120 per year.
- If the current student strength of SFCs in any University is more than the ceiling mentioned above, the same must be brought down to the prescribed ceiling limit w.e.f 2022-23 Academic Year by reducing the number of SFC seats and/or by discontinuing some not so well-performing SFCs.
- Every SFC, which is currently running, shall be critically reviewed by the University Syndicate/ Board of Management and a suitable decision should be taken by the Syndicate/Board of Management within 30.06.2022 regarding continuance or discontinuance of these SFCS, as the case may be. The SFCs which will be discontinued shall not have any fresh student admission from the academic year 2022-23. These SFCs will continue only for one more year or two more years, as the case may be, till passing out of the last batch of already admitted students.
- Subject to the ceiling of student strength mentioned above, new SFCs can be started in the future by Universities as per need. However, all new SFCs must run in 'Direct Mode'. New SFCs in 'PPP Mode' shall not be permitted at all. (Direct mode means where a SFC is run by a University directly by itself without involvement of any private organisation. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode means where a SFC is run by a University through or in collaboration with a private organization.)
- Admission of students into SFCs must be made through an open and merit-based selection process.
The scholarships are awarded by the Higher Education Department under e-Medhabruti (UG Merit for +3/ PG merit/ Technical and Professional merit) and Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Bhasabruti scheme.
As per the latest notification, online validation by Principal/ Head of the Institutions is mandatory for getting e-Medhabruti and Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Bhasabruti fresh scholarship by the eligible students.
Dateline:
e-Medhabruti (UG, PG, Technical and Professional Merit)
Fresh online application by students: May 5, 2022
Fresh online validation by concerned Principals/Head of institutions: May 20,2022
Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Bhasabruti (UG (Odia) and PG (Odia)
Fresh online application by students: May 5, 2022
Fresh online validation by concerned Principals/Head of institutions: May 20,2022
The Higher Education department has advised students and institutions to contact on 0674-2396550 if they face problems at the time of online application or online validation on the State Scholarship portal. They also can seek help through email by sending their grievances to scholarshiphed@gmail.com.
Earlier, the deadline for online application for both the scholarships was April 5 and April 20, respectively.
The scholarships will be awarded to students who are pursuing general courses- Under Graduate (UG) (+3), Post Graduate (PG), Technical and Professional courses in SAMS and Non-SAMS institutions (i.e CBSE/ICSE affiliated schools, Universities /Management/ Engineering and Technical Institutions) inside and outside Odisha.
As per the advertisement issued by the Higher Education Department, the students can apply for the scholarships at –www.scholarship.odisha.gov.in.
Important Dates & Information:
1. e-Medhabruti Scholarship A. UG Merit (3 Year Course)
No. of Scholarship: 6000
Rate of Scholarship per year: Rs 5,000
Amount of Scholarship to be paid at a time: Rs 15,000 (for 3 years)
B. PG Merit (2 Year Course)
No. of Scholarship: 2500
Rate of Scholarship per year: Rs 10,000
Amount of Scholarship to be paid at a time: Rs 20,000 (for 2 years)
C. Technical and Professional Merit
No. of Scholarship: 6000
Rate of Scholarship per year: Rs 10,000
Amount of Scholarship to be paid at a time: Rs 10,000 X (No of course years)
2. Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Bhasabruti Scholarship
No. of Scholarship: 1200 (students studying in UG with Odia honours)
300 (Students studying in PG with Odia honours)
Rate of Scholarship per year: Rs 20,000 only once for the entire duration of the course
Amount of Scholarship to be paid at a time: Rs 20,000
Scheduled Timeline For Online Application
Opening date of online application for students: January 5, 2022
Last date of submission of application: February 5, 2022
Odisha has 11 state universities, 5 private universities, 102 government autonomous colleges, 287 aided, 120 block grant colleges, 294 un-aided colleges and 143 self financing colleges. Of the 11 state universities, one (Utkal University) was accredited with A+ ranking in 2016 and 6 others with A grade. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Odisha remains at a lowly 17.5%. The ambitious target of 30% GER will take much more than just establishing new institutions.
272 posts for Junior Lecturers and 513 posts for Lecturers are lying vacant. Only in 2016, State Selection Board, coming to life after 24 long years in coma, appointed 1625 Lecturers in non-government aided colleges. How knowledge imparting would be happening at the face of such vacancy is anyone’s guess. A comment on quality, training, skills of these faculty members would demand another essay altogether.
Scholarships given are scanty and paltry. Schemes like KSSY which make provision for education loan for higher education at 1% repayment interest exist only on paper. While the announcement is there, banks have no clue about it as they have not received any communication from the government. Some scholarships are broad based, like a mega scholarship for 10,000 students, it provides for Rs 10,000 per annum. Anyone aware of the skyrocketing cost of higher education in the country will scoff at such an amount of scholarship.
There already exists District Infrastructure and Quality Monitoring Cells headed by District level Consultants, and up to 30 in few districts. Odisha State Higher Education Council was set up in 2014 which aims to “provide for the benchmarking, coordination and maintenance of standards and promotion of higher education and research”. Then there are regional directorates, with two new established last week, which oversee affairs of few districts under them. The ghost of overregulation thus continues to haunt higher education. While only recently the government has shown promise by creating autonomous institutions, it needs to be granted broadly for institutions to improve.
Rs 957.2 crore under Plan, 1239.8 crore under non-Plan and Rs 50 lakhs under Central plan has been allotted for higher education in Odisha. The per capita funding received from MHRD, Govt of India, is one of the lowest for Odisha. This discrimination does not augur well for Centre State relation but then it also does not receive much attention. Odisha government last year requested World Bank to provide assistance of Rs 1019.7 crore for improving higher education in the state. It has not received the amount yet. A country which invests very little in higher education of course has states which do so, and Odisha is no exception. If the outcomes are to improve, higher funding has to occur.
Why cannot there be a university for cultural studies which encompasses studies on cultural heritage, dance forms, language, Buddhist studies, etc? Why cannot there be more engineering colleges modelled on NIT-Rourkela, which stands out as only credible institution in that category? Why cannot medical colleges, including the proposed new ones, have state-of-the-art facilities? Why cannot employability of graduates be improved? There are many such questions that haunt higher education in Odisha. A concerted effort beginning from government, civil society, education entrepreneurs, higher education bureaucracy and academics can answer these.
Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Fakirmohan University in Balasore, North Orissa University in Mayurbhanj, Gangadhar Meher University in Sambalpur, Khallikote University in Ganjam and Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University in Puri district will get Rs 12.5 lakh each for the proposed career counselling centre, the notification added.
Besides, Utkal University and Ramadevi Women's University in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur University in Ganjam and Sambalpur University will receive Rs 4.5 lakh grant each from the Higher Education department.
The State government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 93 lakh for the 10 universities in 2017-18 financial year.
School and Mass Education Department has been asked to identify schools having necessary infrastructure by end of January 2018 so that admissions can start at the earliest.
Sources said, high schools in 13 undivided district headquarters could preferably selected for introducing class XI on a pilot project basis. Such proposals were approved at a high level meeting chaired by chief secretary on December 4.
Also Read: Students get another chance for admission into Plus III
Official sources said that Odisha government is now keen on improving infrastructure and quality of education after +2 streams were separated from higher education department and integrated with school and mass education department.
As per the arrangements made to streamline state of affairs in several educational institutions, the junior lecturers who have been teaching in plus II classes, will continue with school and mass education department on deployment basis.
https://youtu.be/EBvmKm96rZ4
Twenty girls, who had received self-defence training, 10 master trainers, five project coordinators, five principals and five district level consultants (DLCs) were awarded by Higher Education Minister Ananta Das.
While the trainees were presented with a certificate and cash prize of Rs 1,000 each, the master trainers and project coordinators received Rs 3,000 each while principals and DLCs were given Rs 5,000 each and certificates.
"I am very glad to receive the award as DLC. It is definitely an exciting gift for us and I will try to work with enthusiasm in coming days. I will try to better discharge my duties with help of concerned lecturers and students of all colleges under me," said Kalahandi DLC, Dr Dingar Suna.
"Girls are more powerful than the boys, but as they are forgetting about their power, this programme is organised for awakening them. We saw that in the last two to three years the girls have become more powerful and other than self protection they are able to protect others also," said Minister Ananta Das.
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Other than the Higher Education Minister, the event was attended by School and Mass Education Minister Badrinarayan Patra, BJD MP Prasanna Patsani, BJD's Bhubaneswar (North) MLA Priyadarshi Mishra and Higher Education secretary GVV Sharma among others.
https://youtu.be/mFmZ4D0-FGA
In a letter from the department the VC has been asked to, "furnish a detailed report on the allegation made against Maheswar Satpathy, Asst. Professor, Department of Psychology, Utkal University and action taken in this regard to this Department immediately."
Earlier on October 16, authorities of the varsity had discontinued all the academic & student-related activities of Satpathy following a five-day long agitation by students of the Psychology department bringing complaints of mental harassment against him.
An enquiry committee was formed to probe the allegations and submit a report to the VC within October 31, based on which further action will be taken.
As per the notification, election to students’ union in several colleges and universities will be held on September 23 while the process is likely to start from September 15.
Also Read: Ravenshaw campus poll to be held in line with general polls
The aspiring candidates can file their nominations from 9 am to 12 noon on September 16, scrutiny will be held on September 17 and the list of valid candidates will be published on September 18.
The final list of candidates contesting for various posts in students’ union will be notified by respective colleges on September 18.
The ‘What I Stand For’ meeting will be held on September 22 while the polling will be on September 23 and results will be declared on same day after counting.
Nearly, 66.3 acre land in Siha panchayat, 12 km from Chandikhol has been provided to Higher Education Department for the second project also known as a rural campus of Utkal University.
Varsity officials said Rs 70 crores would be spent for the second campus which would be a centre for skill development and research.
“The place is good for an educational institute and we met the villagers and local authorities to discuss with them on many issues. Only the cashewnut field has not been demarcated,” said PG Council Chairman of Utkal University Brahmananda Satapathy.
A student of the university, Soubhagya Mohapatra said, “Students of Utkal University will be benefited from the Skill Development Centre which will be set up near Chandikhol. It will be helpful for development in research sector.”
Two years back Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, during foundation day ceremony of the students’ union, had announced the second campus of the university and had approved the budget.
Now he has allocated the land, but locals have raised some issues due to the presence of a cashewnut field in the given land. Technical Committee members of Utkal University have discussed with the villagers on this issue.
Local MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy said that a solution on the issue has been found and there is no problem in establishing the second campus.
MLA Satpathy, talking to OTV said, “We have convinced the villagers that not a single cashew nut tree will be cut off. It will be protected even if it is planted on government land. Even the villagers will receive the profit gained from the cashew trees, so there is no issue. Some people who are not in favour of the second campus are trying to create an issue.”
The foundation stone for the second campus will be laid by Higher Education Minister Ananta Das on July 31.
While the Jeypore regional directorate will have Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Nuapada under its jurisdiction, Balasore, Bhadrak,Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar will come under the Balasore directorate.
Currently, three regional directorates of the department are functioning from Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Sambalpur. These centres look after the publication of new course curriculum and fix the remuneration of teachers and staff. Since the task of the directorates had escalated in view of the rise in enrollments in both government and private colleges across the state, the decision to set up two more directorates was taken, an official of the department said.
Over 16,000 evaluators will be engaged in the process which will be conducted in two phases, from April 5 till 14 and April 17 to 26.
Also Read: 3.8 lakh students appear in Plus II exam
As per Prabodh Panda, the deputy examination controller of examination conducting body, Council of Higher Secondary Examination (CHSE), “The examination papers of Science and Commerce streams will be evaluated online through e-evaluation process. However, the examination papers of Arts and Vocational streams will be conducted manually on offline mode. Out of the 51 centres, e-valuation will be done in 32 centres, while manual valuation will be done at all the centres. Akin to last year, the Science stream results will be published in the second week of May while the results of other streams will be declared in the first week of June 2017.”
A decision was taken at a high level meeting presided over by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the State Secretariat here today.
Briefing media persons after the meeting, School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra said an officers’ level meeting to this effect was held earlier and a joint meeting was held today in the presence of Chief Secretary, Development Commissioner, Secretary, Small & Medium Industries, Principal Secretary, Higher Education and Higher Education minister Pradip Panigrahi.
“Considering that the students have less time to prepare themselves for the examination, it was unanimously decided that there will be no Board examination for the students of Plus Two first year students in the state this year. The state government, after a wider consultation on various aspects will fix the modality and process to conduct the Board examination next year.
Notably, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) had earlier submitted a report to the School and Mass Education department in favour of conducting the annual Board examination of the Plus Two first year.
Also Read: New text books, syllabus for Plus II unveiled
The Council had also prepared a roadmap to conduct the examination in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) pattern.
As per the recommendation of the CHSE Examination Committee, the examination pattern would be of multiple choice type in which the students will answer 50 marks of multiple choice questions on the OMR sheet for which they will be given one hour’s time. The prime objective of the examination is to force the students to appear in the annual first year examination which they were skipping previously.
According to sources, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) has already submitted a report on conducting board exams in the 1st year to the School and Mass Education department. While the Council has suggested conducting 1st year Board exams, the State government is reportedly not being able to arrive at a decision.
“Some information was sought from me and accordingly I have furnished details to the Mass Education department. We are in doubt over conducting the tests and we will act as per the State government’s decision on the matter,” said CHSE chairman Basudev Chattoi.
Notably, the CHSE had recommended the test pattern in line with other States like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, and Nagaland. Council believes, such a pattern will help students to secure good marks in all-India entrance examinations like Medical and Engineering.
However, with decision yet to be taken on the matter, confusion is rife among four lakh Plus-II students over the pattern of tests that they have to appear.
“Earlier they told us that the examination will be conducted as per the new pattern and counseling will be done. However, the decision has not been conveyed by the board authorities yet. We are in total confusion over the exam pattern,” said a student.
A meeting in this regard was held today at Secretariat, which was chaired by Development commissioner in presence of Higher Education secretary and CHSE chairman today. However, it failed to take a final call on the matter citing absence of required information.
"We could not reach any conclusion today as we need further information. The CHSE has been asked to provide the same. Another meeting will be convened to discuss the matter", Higher Education secretary Ranjana Chopra said.
The council, on the other hand, said it will provide all necessary data very soon to the department.
"We had given all necessary documents. But, some further information are required. I will try to gather these as soon as possible. Then after, a decision will be taken in another meeting", CHSE chairman Basudev Chhatoi said.
The CHSE Examination Committee had approached the State Government in 2015 to introduce examination in first year by amending the Odisha Higher Secondary Act, 1982.
Examination in the first year was recommended by the Higher Education department’s fact finding committee, which was constituted in 2014 to suggest changes in Plus-Two syllabus, examination and evaluation. The committee had submitted its final report to the department last year and recommended examination for Plus-Two first year.
As per the notification, all colleges and universities have been asked to issue notification in this regard.
As per the schedule, the process for the polls would begin from September 28 and nomination filing is on September 29, added the notification.
Last date for candidates to withdraw their nominations is on October 1. The poll aspirants will have to attend the ‘Why I Stand For’ meeting on October 4.
Polling would begin from 8 AM to 2 PM while the results will be announced in the afternoon.
The oath taking ceremony will be held on October 6.
The notification has also asked the college and universities to conduct the elections with strict adherence to the Lyngdoh Committee recommendation.
In science, Saraswati Vidyamandir, Neelakantha Nagar in Berhampur has emerged as the most sought after college with 90.83% followed by Ravenshaw junior College (90.5%) and BJB junior College, Bhubaneswar, (89.33%). Other top colleges are Kalinga Vision +2 science college, Bhubaneswar (87%), Upendranath College, Soro, (86.83%) and Talanagar College in Balasore district (86.17%).
Kishore Nagar junior college, Angul, topped the list in Arts stream with 86 per cent while Anandmayee Women's college, Dahamunda in Balasore was at second place with 83.5% and Tara Tarini College, Purusottampur in Ganjam district third with 83 %. The other prominent colleges, which are in the top 10 list, are Kanpur Anchalika Mahavidyalaya, Narasinghpur in Cuttack district (81.83%), Anchalik Mahavidyalaya, Rusuda in Bolangir district (80%), Sohela junior college in Bargarh (79.33%), Nagaon Higher Secondary School in Bolangir district (78.5%).
Cut off marks of major colleges for admission into Commerce are Sri Aurobondo college, Angul (80.5%), BJB junior college, Bhubaneswar (80%), SCS junior college, Puri (77.67%),Ravenshaw junior college, Cuttack (77%), Ramadevi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar (76%), Kamakhyanagar college, Dhenkanal (75.33) and Rajadhani college, Bhubaneswar (73.67%).
Sources said students, who have successfully cleared the instant and supplementary examinations, can take part in the admission process in the second cut off list. Besides, those, who had not applied in the first phase, will also get a chance for admission.
Out of a total 4.10 lakh seats, around 2.95 lakh have been filled up in the first phase. The second phase admission to fill up the vacant seats in various colleges will start from July 28 and will continue till 30 .
BJB college, Bhubaneswar, had topped the first cut off list in science stream while some private colleges had dominated the list in Arts and Commerce streams.
Students, who have successfully cleared the instant and supplementary examinations, can take part in the admission process in the second cut off list. Besides, those, who had not applied in the first phase, will also get a chance for admission.
Out of a total 4.10 lakh seats, around 2.95 lakh have been filled up in the first phase. The second phase admission to fill up the vacant seats in various colleges will start from July 28 and will continue till 30 .
BJB college, Bhubaneswar, had topped the first cut off list in science stream while some private colleges had dominated the list in Arts and Commerce streams.
The second phase cut-off marks in BJB is 90.6% and 90.4% in Physical Science and Biological Science respectively while its is 74.2% for the Arts stream and 84.6% for Commerce..
Basic Science and Humanities Degree College, Bhubaneswar, has the highest cut-off marks of 88% in Chemistry.
Also Read: First Cut-Off List For +3 Admissions Out
Talking to the media today, Admission-in-Charge, Higher Education, Mihir Das said a total of 45,156 students have been selected for the second phase admission in Plus Three streams of which 6549 have been found eligible for admission in Physical Science, 4111 in Biological Science, 28,785 in Arts and 4992 in Commerce.
While reviewing the progress in text book distribution in the state, the Chief Minister emphasised timely distribution of text books in both the departments.
Though Plus II classes have already started, text books are yet to be available in the market.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra, said, “The Chief Minister has directed us to expedite the text book distribution process.”
Higher Education minister Pradip Panigrahi said, “Text books could not be distributed in time as the academic committee did not submit its report in time and there was delay in the printing process. That is the reason all the books could not be printed by the scheduled time of July 15.”
“Now we have asked the concerned officials to finish the work in time,” Panigrahi added.
Among others, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and Director of Text Book Bureau Gitika Patnaik were present during the review meeting.
The students will have to take admission into the colleges in the second phase from June 27 to June 29. The third phase cut-off list will be published on July 4 and admissions for this phase will be conducted between July 8 and July 9.
Sources said classes are scheduled to begin from July 14.
Notably, out of 4,00,059 seats across 1,544 colleges in the State, 2,72,339 have taken admission into various Plus II courses during the first phase of admission.
Talking to OTV today, Prof Basudeb Chhatoi, chairman of Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), said in fact the authorities of the Odisha State Bureau of Text Book Preparation and Production were asked to deliver the new syllabuses after the conclusion of the annual Plus Two examinations.
“But as the Bureau failed to comply with our request, I had a joint meeting with the senior Bureau officials including the director recently and requested them to release the new syllabuses before the start of the admission process by May 23. But the Bureau is yet to release the syllabuses till date,” he pointed out.
Asked about the matter, Gitika Patnaik, director of the Textbook Bureau, said the work for the publication of book is in full swing since last 3-4 months after the Bureau received the new syllabuses from the CHSE.
“The Bureau has taken up the work in association with experienced teachers, authors and reviewers who are even working during holidays. The fact is since the books are to be published in a new format, it will take time. Had the books been prepared as per old syllabuses, things would have been different altogether,” she said.
Expressing concern, Mudra Mohanty, a girl student, said though admission process has begun, she is yet to know about the new syllabuses introduced by the CHSE which are prepared as per the CBSE pattern. “Neither we have seen these new books and nor we find the new syllabuses in the website,” she said.
Another student Dabaprasad Das said though the results have been declared since June 1, he does not know about the new books and the new syllabuses as a result of which he is unable to prepare ourselves to get used to the new pattern during summer vacation.
“Now that the vacation is almost over, I am worried as how I would cope with the new syllabuses,” he pointed out.
As per the notification, students can apply online or offline for admission.
The first phase cut-off marks would be published on July 13 and the admission of the selected students would be held between July 15 and 20.
The second phase cut-off marks would be published on July 25 while admission of the selected students would be held between July 27 and 29.
The third phase cut-off marks would be published on August 3 while admission of the selected students would be held on August 5 and 6 after which regular classes of Plus-III first year would begin from August 11, the notification added.
Without citing any valid reason, the Higher Education department has directed the college authorities to notify the concerned students to pay back the amount.
Accordingly, the college has notified 12 such students including four from B.tech and eight from M.tech to refund the money and warned them of action in case of failure.
The notification acquired by OTV said "As per the verification of scholarship (Medhabruti) for professional/technical course by the audit authority for the year 2013-14 and onwards, the FA cum special secretary to government, department of Higher Education. Government of Odisha has intimated to the undersigned to recover the scholarship amount from ineligible students @10,000/- for the year2013-14 and onwards".
"Therefore, you are hereby directed to return the scholarship (Medhabruti) amount @10,000/- per year received during 2013-14 and 2014-15 in form of DD in favour of Under Secretary, Scholarship, Higher Education Department payable at UCO bank, Odisha Legislative Campus Branch, Bhubaneswar on or before 8th, March, 2016, failing which action as per government norms will be initiated", it added.
On the other hand, the warning has posed a major hindrance before the students in pursing higher education.
"They (college authorities) are not issuing our mark sheet as we have not refunded the amount Rs 20,000. I can not apply for PhD in the absence of the mark-sheet, said Pragyan Paramita Das, a student.
Anil Kumar Pradhan, another recipient, said “We have not hidden any fact and got the scholarship only as per merit. But, now the government is asking to refund the money without showing any valid cause."
The college authorities, however, said if they do not deserve for the same, they should refund return it.
“The Government has shot up a letter asking them to refund Rs 20,000 which they have received from the government in two years. If they are not deserving for such scholarship as per guidelines, they should return it", Pravat Padhi, academic in-charge of CET, said.
According to government advertisement, the meritorious post-graduate students deserve to get the scholarship. But, here, the Higher Education department did not accept the M.tech students as they failed to figure in merit list.
Questions are being raised as to why the government awarded the financial assistance before conducting a thorough verification to ascertain the real beneficiaries.
However, the Higher Education Department is yet to take a call on resumption of classes in colleges and universities even as the students are keen on physical classroom instead of online mode of teaching.
Swikriti Mishra, a PG student felt that the online classes are not so fruitful as against the classroom teaching which is much more beneficial for the students.
"We appeal to the Higher Education Department to take decision on early reopening of college and Universities,” she added.
Responding to the same, the State Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo, however, attributed the delay in reopening educational institutions to continuous lockdown-shutdown and containment measures.
“Reopening of colleges and universities is getting delayed like last year due to various government restrictions for Covid containment. Last year, we had managed the study schedule in this academic session. I hope the resumption of classroom teaching may not get delayed this time too,” Sahoo pointed out.
On the other hand, the State government’s decision to resume the classroom teaching in schools has somehow put both students and guardians in quandary due to the fear of Covid-19 infection as inoculation drive against the virus is yet to cover school goers.
According to a notification issued by the Higher Education Department, the final year or final semester examinations will be held in July or August in online mode for the 2020-21 academic year. The result will be published in August or September.
All Back Paper examinations will be held in online mode by the end of July or August for these students as well as already passed out students, the notification read.
While the date of examination will be decided by the concerned universities and autonomous colleges, students can appear the said online examination from their home or any place suitable to them. They can also appear the said online examination from any nearby degree college as per their convenience, the notification stated.
The process or modalities of online examination will be intimated to the students by the concerned universities or autonomous colleges. Interactive doubt clearing classes will be conducted in online mode till mid-July to end of July, 2021.
To ensure smooth conduct of the online examination, university and college teachers shall be assigned mentoring duty for a group of students. These mentor-teachers shall constantly talk to their mentee-students through telephone or in any other mode and prepare the students for online examination. The list of mentor teachers must be uploaded in the university or college website by June 30.
Decision regarding examination for the other students of will be decided later, it read.
As of May 21, 2021, the arrears to be paid by the government/ colleges stands at Rs 51.29 lakh.
In a letter to the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department, the power distribution company requested to pay the bill at the earliest.
“As of May 21, the total arrear outstanding due is around Rs 51.29 lakh against 68 numbers of customers under your department. You are requested to kindly intervene in the matter and sanction the fund to the concerned field officers to clear all outstanding due of Rs 51.29 lakh at the earliest, the letter read.
On receiving the communication from the TPCODL, the department has asked the concerned colleges to meet the expenses or report to the department in case of a scarcity of funds.
Government sources said huge outstanding dues towards electricity bills are pending against nine colleges including-
1. Angul Autonomous College, Angul
2. Shailabala Women's Autonomous College, Cuttack
3. Jatiya Kabi Bira Kishore Govt. (Degree) College, Cuttack
4. Dhenkanal Autonomous College, Dhenkanal
5. Government Women's College, Dhenkanal
6. BJB Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar
7. Rajdhani College, Bhubaneswar
8. S.C.S. Autonomous College, Puri
9. Government Women's College, Puri
The Department, through a letter, asked the principals of these colleges to make necessary arrangements for payment of the pending dues.
“You are requested to meet the expense from allotment placed at disposal of the DDOs of concerned colleges under the unit-074-electricity, for withdrawal and disbursement to TPCODL. If there is insufficiency of funds, you are requested to report to this Department with requirements of funds,” stated the letter of the Higher Education department asking the authorities to treat it as most urgent.
As per official sources, the Higher Education Department has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TCIL, Ministry of Communication to set up 135 smart classrooms in the State.
Under the project, all the smart classrooms with modern day audio visual systems will be interconnected. As a result, students of Balasore or any other part of the State can also study simultaneously what senior lecturers will be teaching in a college in Bhubaneswar.
As all the classes of various subjects will be recorded, the students can go through the chapters to clear their doubts as all the data will be stored in a common database which can be accessed easily.
“The Higher Education Department is bringing several transformative changes to enhance quality of education. A MoU has been signed with TCIL for 135 classrooms,” said additional secretary, Higher Education Department, Parthasarathi Mishra.
Mishra further said that Rs 7 lakh will be spent towards setting up one smart classroom. So far, 94 smart classrooms have been set up and the project will be launched from this academic session, he added.
During the crucial meeting, it was decided that all the lecturers in the government colleges will have extended working hours now beyond the UGC guidelines of 5 hours a day. Not only this, the colleges will record their attendance with the help of biometrics technology.
According to sources, an official notification in connection with the decision will also be published soon.
Briefing media on the agenda of the meeting, Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo said the meeting discussed about the hurdles in development of the higher education system and ways to strengthen them. “The Principals shared their vision about the Higher Education system. Discipline in college campuses is our priority,” Sahoo added.
The meeting also discussed how a uniform syllabus can be introduced for all the government Plus III Colleges.
As per UGC guidelines, the college faculty members are bound to take minimum 25 classes every week and remain present for five hours a day in their respective colleges. However, the HE department today decided that post completion of these five hours, they will stay for another two hours and concentrate on bettering the research activities apart from working towards academic development.
The move has been initiated to impart quality education and most importantly, put a check on lecturers being callous and compromising with their duty hours.
The colleges will also work towards ensuring that students get maximum benefit through research activities and government schemes. This apart, the college heads will introspect whether the lecturers are staying for seven hours or not, while action will be taken against those not following the academic guidelines.
Responding to a query on media reports about overlapping of PG entrance dates of different universities in the State, the minister said, “Barring one or two universities, the PG entrance test of many universities is over. From next academic session, a coordination meeting will be held to fix the PG entrance dates to avoid overlapping.”
Even the students have alleged that the focus of lecturers is getting diverted due to fewer working hours allotted to them.
"Less attention is being given towards research work and other developmental activities. If the lecturers stay for eight hours, they will be more focused on what extra can be done for students," said a student of BJB Autonomous College.
Meanwhile, additional secretary of the Higher Education department, Partha Sarathi Mishra informed that out of the 52 government colleges, biometric system has already been installed at 16 institutions to keep a tab on attendance of faculty members.
“Our focus is to fill up vacancies at government colleges and so, the recruitment will be over within two months. This apart, infrastructure development at the colleges is another priority,” Mishra added.
This was the first meeting between the minister, department officials and college principals in the current academic session. Earlier this month, the government had conducted a meeting of Vice Chancellors of universities in the State.
RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) launched in 2013, which aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions. Three institutions in Odisha- Utkal University, Ramadevi Women's University and Ravenshaw University, were granted funds by RUSA for infrastructure development. However, it has been found that these three varsities have either misutilised the infrastructure grant or if utilised, it is being done at a very slow pace.
A team formed by the HE department provided a report in this connection following an inspection. Based on the report, the department has reportedly served notices to the VCs of these three varsities along with R&B Chief Engineer seeking a reply over the utilisation of RUSA grants.
The selection list will be published on August 18 while the online fees can be deposited between August 19 and 21.
As per official sources, the spot admission will be conducted on August 23 and the classes for first year students will commence from the following day.
Earlier, the department had published merit lists of the selected students twice. The first merit list was published on July 18 while the second one was out on August 5, 2019.
A total of 2,10,446 students had reportedly applied for admission in 1047 degree colleges of the State this year.
The ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) today gheraoed the residence of Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo protesting cancellation of student union elections, following which a scuffle broke out between cops and agitators. The members of ABVP alleged that it is a planned strategy of Odisha government to stifle the voice of the students.
As per reports, more than 50 ABVP students have been detained by police following protests.
"Minister Arun Sahoo himself was a student leader. Now, he is opposing the same. Who gave him the right to snatch away the rights of students?" said a protester.
ABVP coordinator, Sanjay Mallick, said, "We strongly oppose the decision to cancel student elections in the State. They should reconsider it after holding a meeting."
The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) raised questions over the decision saying that polls are being conducted in other states.
"This will stop good student leaders from joining State politics in the future. If in other States, the polls are being conducted why not in Odisha. Why can't police provide protection during elections and prevent violence?" said NSUI coordinator, Itish Pradhan.
On the other hand, the decision of cancelling the polls has been welcomed by students' wing of ruling-BJD.
"We are happy and completely support the decision and in future we want the government to go for an alternate option," said Rajesh Swain, vice-president of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal.
As per a notice issued to all vice-chancellors of all state universities and principals of all government degree and aided colleges, the Higher Education Department has said that, ‘An Alternative procedure for nominating students’ representatives to various bodies of universities and colleges, where students’ representation is required, shall be prescribed subsequently.”
The Higher Education Department’s notification further stated that decision has been taken by the State government in the larger interest of the students’ community.
“The admission process must get over on time and syllabus must be covered within the stipulated time. The exam must be conducted in a timely manner so that students get their results as per the schedule,” said Sahoo.
If need arises, number of evaluation centres will be increased for early publication of results, said Sahoo, adding that remuneration of faculty members involved in question paper preparation and answer sheet evaluation will be hiked.
The minister also directed the universities to provide details of their funding and the registrars were asked to take measures to get the accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
On the infrastructure front, the Higher Education Minister asked the universities and colleges to resolve land-related issues and establish multi-storey buildings.
The North Orissa University’s Registrar Pramod Kumar Satpathy said the meeting discussed how the exams can be conducted smoothly and benefit students.
A decision in this regard was taken during a meeting with Registrars and Examination Controllers of all universities of the State under chairmanship of Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo here.
Sources said faculty members getting Rs 300-500 to prepare question papers for Plus III examination will get Rs 1,000. Similarly, examiners who were getting Rs 15-20 per answer sheet for evaluation will get Rs 30.
This apart, during the meeting it was also decided to increase the number of evaluation centres for smooth conduct of Plus III examination. The Higher Education department is planning to set up one evaluation centre for every 12 to 15 colleges.
“Remuneration for question setters is very less and necessary steps will be taken to increase it. Examiners are also getting very less payment and this is one of the reasons for the delay in evaluation. We have decided to bring some reforms for addressing such issues,” Sahoo added.
Although educationists have welcomed the decision on remuneration hike, they stressed on the need for infrastructure development for timely publication of exam results and smooth conduct of the examination.
Even though the State government is taking reformative measures, they are not being implemented whole-heartedly. A few months ago, the examiners faced difficulties while evaluating answer sheets in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani due to lack of electricity at some evaluation centres. Had there been proper infrastructure at evaluation centres, there would have been no issues in the evaluation,” said Kamala Prasad Mohapatra, an educationist.
The Higher Education department in a letter to Principals of all government colleges and non-government aided colleges mentioned, "It has been stipulated that college students have to attend at least 75 per cent of available classes failing which they shall not be allowed to appear in end-term examination."
The students, however, can compensate the low-attendance level to fulfil the criteria by attending remedial classes held by their respective colleges.
"Wherever students' attendance is below the prescribed minimum of 75 per cent level, remedial/extra classes should be held for those students so that they can reach the minimum 75% attendance level," the department said.
Also Read: Khallikote College Students Barred From Taking Exams, Stage Protest
It is pertinent to mention that flames of protests were seen at various colleges in Odisha after some students were barred from sitting in the examinations reportedly on account of low attendance in the academic session.
In a letter to all vice-chancellors (all State public and private universities), Higher Education Department has asked concerned officials to remain in full preparedness to conduct examinations, whenever permitted by the government, within a short notice.
Though classes (theory or practical) shall not be held in physical mode, the Higher Education department has granted permission to varsity authorities for online-teaching/ e-learning/ distance learning.
#Odisha Higher Education department permits all public & private universities to resume their normal activities during #COVID19 lockdown period with restrictions; online teaching & other activities, online exam paper evaluation can be conducted pic.twitter.com/lfFXqOF0Pg
— OTV (@otvnews) April 20, 2020
The department has further asked the varsity officials to ensure that no student is allowed into hostels. No student or public shall be allowed to enter the university office or department without valid permission of the concerned authorities.
Higher education department has categorically directed university officials to ensure that students and public do not face any problems in getting certificates or other documents which can be issued through electronic mode. The State government has categorically denied permission to any conference, seminars, workshops, interview, field work and trips. However, the universities can conduct seminars and conferences in online mode if required.
Also Read: COVID Comfort For Odisha: Doubling Rate Gets Longer In State!
The Higher Education department has permitted evaluation of answer copies of the examinations already conducted though zonal evaluation is not permitted.
Though all Group A (all teaching and non-teaching) employees including faculties have to attend their official duty on daily basis, the varsity authorities have been asked to allow only one-third Group B, C and D employees.
During functioning of the universities, the authorities have been asked to ensure that all COVID-19 measures including social distancing, hand washing, sanitation, use of masks, suspension of bio-metric attendance system and other norms are duly followed.
A copy of the University Office Order to this effect should be sent to local Police and Civil Administration with a request to allow movement of permitted employees to and from the university. Employees must carry a copy of this Order of HE Department, a copy of the University Office Order and own Id-Card while commuting to the university.
As per the decision taken by Higher Education Department, Universities and Autonomous colleges will follow evaluation methodology recommended by UGC for evaluation or final/final semester examination and results should be published by the end of August.
The higher education department has directed colleges to follow the following evaluation methodology including prescribed weightage for internal assessment and remaining weightage to average of marks obtained in all previous semesters/ years in a particular subject.
In cases where students feel that marks granted are not in line with thier expectation, then they can apply for re-evaluation as per the existing format by November 2020. The revised results in such cases will be published by December 2020. This decision of the State government will not be applicable for universities and colleges where the examinations have already concluded.
The exams of students with more than two back papers in final semester/ final year exams also stand cancelled. Back paper evaluation will be done as per proportionate quotient (P-Q) or any other alternate method.
These guidelines will be applicable for all universities and autonomous colleges under the Odisha Higher Education department barring medical courses. All the examinations of medical courses will be conducted as per schedule.
According to Higher Education Department, these decisions have been taken after considering the proposals/ recommendations of the vice-chancellors and principals of various universities and colleges in the State.
Also Read: Rama Devi Women’s University Semester Exams Postponed After Protests
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the online teaching of Under Graduate and Post-Graduate students of all colleges under the administrative control of the Higher Education Department is all set to begin from July 13.
Guidelines for Online Teaching - Key Takeaways
For online teaching, teachers shall form WhatsApp or e-mail group of students, not exceeding 32 in one group.
Teachers shall provide soft copy of Notes/ Text Books/ Reference Books / Good PPTs/ Recommended Lectures (of self or others) to students either through WhatsApp or e-mail to study at home.
Teachers shall conduct the online classes with students for at least 2 to 3 hours per day for three days in a week.
They can use Google Meet/ Zoom/Skype or other digital platforms for such purpose.
The online class must be conducted by the teachers from the college premises.
Teachers will maintain attendance register of students attending online classes and also maintain their own Lesson Plan and Progress Register.
Each department shall prepare the Time-Table for online classes and submit to the Principal who shall prepare the Master Time Table, which should be made available on the college website as well as to students through WhatsApp or e-mail.
Principal with the assistance of Academic Bursar/two to three senior teachers shall supervise conduct of online classes from time to time.
Officers of the Higher Education Department and RDEs will make surprise visits to monitor the conduct of online classes.
After Odisha government announced the closure of educational institutions till August 31, the concerned department took the decision to conduct online teaching to ensure no loss of teaching days and any disruption of the Academic Calendar.
Read More:
Odisha Colleges, Universities Asked To Start Online Teaching From July 13
OPSC Recruitment 2020: Fresh Vacancies Announced, Check Exam Pattern & Key Dates
The move from the Higher Education department came after it did not receive any response to its first letter in which it had urged the ministry not to make UG and PG final exams compulsory.
In the second letter to MHRD, State Higher Education minister Arun Sahoo mentioned "With unavailability of basic tools for online classes, proper transportation system and rising cases of COVID-19 cases, it is difficult to conduct online examinations in the State."
— ଉଚ୍ଚଶିକ୍ଷା ବିଭାଗ, ଓଡିଶା ସରକାର 🇮🇳 (@DHE_Odisha) July 23, 2020
“The number of UG and PG final semester in Odisha is about 2 lakhs. Most of them belong to low and middle income group and do not have desktop or laptop or decent smartphone at home. Most of them also stay in rural areas not having reliable Internet connection. Therefore, conducting on-line examination for such a large number of students is simply not possible,” the letter read.
“Conducting physical examination will expose the students, college staff and their family members to the risk of COVID 19. Moreover, as public transportation is now virtually non-existent, it is not possible on part of the students to come to their respective colleges,” the letter stated.
Earlier on July 9, Sahoo had written to MHRD to reconsider the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) revised guidelines and not make the UG and PG final semesters compulsory in the times of a pandemic.
Notably, out of 818 universities, 603 varsities have either conducted the examinations or planning to conduct them, informed University Grants Commission (UGC) after receiving responses from universities with regard to the conduct of terminal semester or final year examinations.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)
Also Read:
COVID-19: MHRD Releases ‘Alternative Academic Calendar’ For Upper Primary Students
Uncertainty Looms Large Over Plus II Result Declaration In July
Students seeking admission to postgraduate courses in the state’s public universities and autonomous colleges will be required to appear for the Odisha Common PG Entrance 2020 exam.
The dates for this Common PG Entrance Test (CPET-2020) under project Student Academic Management System (SAMS) are as follows:
Availability of online common application form (CAF) in the website (www.samsodisha.gov.in)- from August 12, 2020
Last date of applying online CAF- August 31 (11:45 pm)
Availability of hall ticket in applicant e-space for downloading- September 20, 2020
Commencement of Entrance Exam (CPET-2020)- September 30 to October 7, 2020
Updation of graduation/ equivalent mark by applicants till October 20, 2020
Publication of State-wide merit list- October 25, 2020
Completion of admission process by respective universities/ colleges offering PG teaching facility- November 20,2020
Commencement of PG 1st year Classes- December 1, 2020
(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)
Also Read: Odisha Plus-2 Science Result Date Announced, All Eyes On Marking System
In a letter, Higher Education department secretary, Saswat Mishra urged principals of all degree colleges under the department to allow visually impaired teachers to take online classes from their home.
“Government has been pleased to allow the visually impaired teachers to take online classes from their residence till resumption of normalcy. They are not required to come to college premises to take online classes,” the letter read.
Notably on July 1, Odisha government had asked Higher Education institutions to start online teaching from July 13.
In a letter, the State Higher Education department had said that the institutions ‘are required to start’ online classes from July 13 and teachers will contact students though a helpline number to counsel them and also respond to their queries on various subjects, examinations, projects and assignments and scholarships among others.
Government universities and colleges shall carry out their official work, (except teaching in physical classroom mode and running of hostels) with 50% staff from July 1 to August 31, the letter had mentioned.
(Edited By Ramakanta Biswas)
Also Read:
Around 27% Students Don’t Have Access To Smartphones, Laptops For Online Classes: NCERT Survey
Future Of Differently Abled Students In Limbo With Introduction Of Online Classes: Survey
According to sources, the meeting scheduled for 3 pm today will be chaired by Higher Education minister Arun Sahoo. Vice-chancellors, controllers of examinations of state public universities, principals of autonomous and degree colleges will attend the meet through video conferencing.
Key issues like schedule, SoP and preparedness to conduct the examinations are likely to be discussed during the meeting, sources informed.
Sources said the Odisha government is likely to seek permission of University Grant Commission (UGC) to conduct the examination after Durga Puja holidays or by October third week.
Notably on July 6, UGC had issued a guideline asking educational institutes to conduct the final examination by September end which was later challenged by students and other organisations. Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the UGC directive and ruled that the states cannot promote students without final examinations.
The top court, however, gave liberty to the States to move the UGC for postponement of the examinations.
On June 11, the Higher Education department had decided to cancel the theory as well as the practical examination of the finals semester of UG and PG courses.
(Edited By Ramakanta Biswas)
Also Read:
Odisha UG, PG Students Clueless As Clarity Eludes Fate Of Exams
Odisha To Introduce 25% Self-Study Syllabus For UG, PG Students From Next Year
The department has taken some decisions with regard to conduct of UG and PG examinations by the State Public Universities and Autonomous Colleges coming under the administrative control of the Higher Education Department:
Final Semester/Year UG and PG Examinations:
1. All State Public Universities and Autonomous Colleges shall compulsorily conduct the final semester/year UG and PG examinations between 20.09.2020 and 10.10.2020 as per the revised guideline of UGC dated 06.07.2020. (The State Government has already made a request to UGC for extension of the deadline by ten days.)
2. Pending Back Paper examinations of Final Semester/Year UG and PG students shall also be conducted quickly as per the UGC revised guideline dated 06.07.2020.
3. If need be, examinations can also be conducted on holidays.
4. Publication of results of final semester/year UG and PG examinations, including back paper examinations, must be made by 31.10.2020.
5. Special examinations shall be held for those who cannot take the final examinations now for whatever reason(s). But these special examinations will be conducted by the Universities / Autonomous Colleges once the Covid-19 situation improves, hopefully by December 2020.
6. For conducting examinations in physical mode, the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) communicated by MHRD Office Memorandum dated 06.07.2020 must be followed.
Meanwhile, Odisha has now requested the UGC to extend the exam deadline to October 10, 2020.
The State government mentioned that this will ensure scheduling of exams with at least one day gap so that exam centres can be sanitized properly and adequate precautions are followed as per COVID protocols.