The University of Hyderabad is getting ready to hold its nationwide entrance examination for admission to various postgraduate and research courses between September 24 and 26.
Announcing this at an online media interaction, the Vice-Chancellor of UoH, Dr Appa Rao Podile said the university is going ahead with this schedule after the Supreme Court gave its nod to hold the JEE and NEET. The record number of over 62,000 candidates seeking admission this year will appear for the entrance exam in 38 centres across the country. The university, he said, plans to complete the admission process and start classes for the new students latest by the first week of November.
Sharing details of the University’s strategy for the resumption of academic activities, the Vice-Chancellor mentioned that about 2000 postgraduate students in the ongoing batch will be starting classes online from Thursday, August 20. The university has geared up for this online semester by installing a learning management system (LMS) that can be used by faculty and students and by shoring up the ICT infrastructure at the departments and Schools. Given internet connectivity issues being faced by some students in remote locations, Prof. Appa Rao assured that online instruction will be primarily in the asynchronous mode, under the guiding principle of ‘leaving no student behind’. The UoH, he added, was probably the first public university in the country to constitute a high-powered Task Force to prepare a roadmap for resumption of academic activities and be guided by its recommendations. The Task Force has already recommended the phased return of about 500 research scholars in the Science schools who work in wet labs, conducting crucial experimental research.
The Chairman of the Task Force, Dr Vinod Pavarala outlined some of the student welfare measures taken by the University to ease the process of resumption for students, including the sanction of a digital access grant (DAG) for disadvantaged students, deferring payment of fee during semester registration, giving extension of time for MPhil and PhD students to submit their theses, and allowing research scholars to register this semester without insisting on uploading of doctoral committee progress reports. In addition, he said, the Alumni Association of UoH has assured the University that it would try to raise funds to supplement the university’s efforts to assist needy students during the current crisis. The process of online instruction will be continuously monitored through an online forum set up to receive feedback from students and faculty.