HEC Timeline and Guidelines for Reopening of Universities

Higher Education Commission has announced the timelines and guidelines for the reopening of the universities and calls the staff and students to attend the universities. The federal government has already made the announcement for the reopening of the universities, which were closed down because of the spreading of the Coronavirus in the country. The public and private universities will follow HEC Timeline and Guidelines for Reopening of Universities.

It is decided by the HEC to reopen the public and private universities in phases and in the first phase, the faculty members and students will be called to attend the universities, who face internet problems while attending the online classes. During the second phase, the final year students and graduate class students will be called to attend their classes. In the third and final phase, all of the students will be called on the campus.

EC Schedule and Timeline to call students and staff to attend campus

• 15 July 2020: The Universities will allow the university faculty, essential staff and students, who have connectivity issues to attend the university.
• 3 August 2020: Final year students, graduate students and the students with house jobs or other practical will be allowed to attend the university
• 17 August 2020: Students, who have the lab requirements like science, medicine and engineering will be allowed to attend the university.
• 14 September 2020: The new students will be called for orientation session.
• 15 September 2020: The new and old students will be allowed to attend the university.

The VC and syndicate should make their decision and they need to keep in mind following factors at the time of making the decision.

• Epidemic Behavior: The University cannot quarantine itself and the flare up in the surrounding of the university may spread to community of university because of the transport system, vendors, local staff and the normal interactions.
• Space Constraints: the university ensures how many students can be accommodated
• They also ensure for the availability of medical services, both on and off the campus
• They also ensure for the availability of essential supplies, like PPEs, testing kits, thermal surveillance cameras and the sanitization systems.
• They also ensure the clear policy and the assignment of the responsibility.

Checklist of safety SOPs

During the academic activities, the universities ensure the implementation of the SOPs and the students wear face mask in public places, maintain good hygiene practice and also o bserve the social distancing and the protocols for public places. They also ensure to review updates on virus and safety policies with use of biometric identifiers and main the daily contact diary and if there are symptoms, follow the prescribed procedure.