Bengaluru: Colleges to Reopen from Nov 17; Covid Test Made Mandatory, Check Details Here

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Authorities in Bengaluru have declared the resumption of degree college institutes from Tuesday, i,e. November 17, 2020. Only students and staff that can procure a legitimate negative Covid test result will be allowed to attend classes. This decision comes after institutes were shut in the state for more than seven months.

N Manjunatha Prasad, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike Commissioner said that teachers and staff will be allowed entry into colleges only if their Covid test result is negative.

Mr. Prasad further added that before entering the colleges, the students will need a certificate with a negative result from an RT-PCR test.

He reassured the parents and the students that proper care will be taken by the institutions and the operations will take place according to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the central and state governments.

The students and faculty members who live near the college or in hostels will also need to procure the certificate before going to the classes.

Bengaluru has more than 432 public and private colleges which more than 60000 students and staff members attend. The Karnataka government took this decision after being indecisive over this decision for more than seven months due to restrictions imposed because of the pandemic.

Mr. Prashad clarified that the test results will only be valid for 3 days subject to the absence of major Covid symptoms. To facilitate this process, test capabilities were provided to more than 141 urban primary health centers located in 198 civic wards located across the city.

More than 450 mobile swab collection teams have been deployed by the civic body near the institutes to facilitate easy and instant Covid tests for the students.

Initially, around 30% of the student strength is expected to be back in colleges due to widespread fear of virus contamination and outbreak. To make up for it, students have been given the choice to continue their studies in the online medium in case they do not feel safe yet.

While degree colleges open from November 17, engineering and medicine have been slotted for reopening from December 1. The opening of schools is as yet still unknown with no clear resolution.