Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today directed the Vice Chancellors of State universities and Principals of Degree Colleges to start online classes for first year students who took admission into undergraduate courses.

Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department, Saswat Mishra in a letter asked the Vice Chancellors and Principals to conduct undergraduate first year classes in online mode from March 1, 2021.

“As Covid-19 situation has not come under total control, it is not possible to commence physical classes for Undergraduate first year students who have taken admission recently. If teaching for these students is not started immediately, they will heavily lose on the academic front,” the letter read.

Worth mentioning, physical classroom teaching for students of final year undergraduate and post graduate courses started from January 11, 2021.

Also, PG first year and UG pre-final year courses, i.e. second year in case of three-year undergraduate courses and third year in case of four-year undergraduate courses, started attending physical classes from February 10, 2021.