COVID-19: Puducherry schools and colleges to remain closed till January 31

Home and Education Minister of Puducherry A Namassivayam said on Tuesday that all schools conducting classes for students of Standards X to XII would remain closed till January 31 as he said coronavirus is spreading in the Union Territory. He told reporters after holding discussions with officials of the Health and Education Departments earlier that colleges also would remain closed till this month-end. He said the government had been holding classes from X to XII and also for students in colleges as the students aged between 15 and 18 years were being vaccinated against the pandemic.

"Considering the current situation of the virus, all classes in high and higher secondary schools and also colleges will remain closed," he said. Already, classes one to IX were cancelled from January 10, he said. Namassivayam said although physical classes were now cancelled, online classes would be conducted. Already, more than 60 per cent of the students were vaccinated against the scourge. Once the schools reopened, there would be vaccination of the rest, he added. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Distance Education (DDE), Pondicherry Central University, on Saturday announced that students who have exhausted the maximum period prescribed to complete the degree programmes are being given one more chance to complete them.The students of MBA (from 2005-2006 to 2015-2016 calendar year) and the students of MCom and MA (English, Sociology and Hindi) and all other courses (from 2014-15 to 2015-2016) are granted one more chance to complete the course in the January 2022 session, said the university announced.