The Collegiate Education Department tweaked its earlier order to begin classes at 8 am Students and teachers had strongly protested against the 8 am shift, as there were no proper transportation facilities in rural areas The new timetable will come into effect from August 1
After strong protests by students and degree college staff against the 8 am start to colleges, the state government has now changed the timings of degree colleges to 9 am. The new timings will come into effect from August 1. The Collegiate Education Department has already prepared a new schedule for the 9 am classes and it will be sent to all the degree colleges soon.
It may be recalled here that the department had earlier notified - on July 6 - that the degree colleges will begin from 8 am to help students academically and also save colleges from infrastructure issues. Also, the circular had noted that the early schedule in the colleges would provide students with ample time - post-classes - to learn computers, study foreign languages or even take up some job to have the first-hand experience of their courses.
But this did not go well with many colleges. Despite the implementation of the new rule, various colleges reported that most of the classrooms were empty at 8 am as neither students nor lecturers arrived at 8 am. Especially, in areas like Malenadu, coastal districts and rural areas, students and teachers could not reach their colleges on times as there were no proper transportation facilities.
This irked most students, who had staged protests against the 8 am schedule.
Following this, the Collegiate Department has now pushed the 8 am shift to 9 am and has also instructed the colleges to prepare their timetable that suits the majority of the students, reports Kannada Prabha.
