In the light of hijab row, holidays for universities and colleges in Karnataka extended till Feb 16

February 16 — that's the date holidays have been extended till for those universities that fall under the Department of Higher Education and colleges that are under the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE) in the aftermath of the hijab row in Karnataka. This was the announcement made by the Government of Karnataka on Friday, February 11. 

But examinations will be held as scheduled and online classes will ensue, Karnataka's Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan shared in a statement, as reported in PTI. The closure is extended to government, aided, unaided degree colleges, diploma and engineering colleges, he added.

It was only earlier in the day that Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh indicated that the decision with regards to the reopening of pre-university and degree colleges will only be taken on February 14. 

Taking cognisance of the hijab row, DCTE had declared that the institutions will be closed from February 9 to February 11, but now, as a precaution, the closure has been extended, the minister said. 

It was on Thursday, February 10, that the Government of Karnataka decided that classes for high school students, till Class X, will resume from February 14 and as far as classes for pre-university and degree colleges are concerned, a decision was to be taken after.

In an interim order pending consideration of all the petitions that were filed with regards to the hijab row, the Karnataka High Court had requested the Government of Karnataka to reopen educational institutions and restrain students from wearing scarves, hijab, saffron shawls or any religious flag on campus. 

Hijab row protests erupted and then turned violent in parts of Karnataka, hence, the government had declared holidays for all high schools and colleges for three days from February 9, Wednesday.