Srinagar: Amid sunny weather, all the Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) reopened on Wednesday across Kashmir post 50-days winter vacation.
The government had announced winter vacation for the GDCs from December 27, 2022, to February 14, 2023.
There was hustle and bustle across Kashmir with students gathering at bus stops, delighted and enthusiastic to resume their classes in colleges.
The students were overjoyed to join their peer group in their institutions after a gap of 50 days.
Though the attendance in some colleges was thin, students who attended classes were upbeat.
Meeting friends and teachers after a long break led to a jovial mood among students.
“We are meeting our friends after so many days and it gives us really a nice feeling as we missed our friends during the vacation period. Most of us remain confined to our homes during winters and some move outside Kashmir,” said Irfan Rouf, a student of Amar Singh (AS) College Srinagar.
“The weather has also improved and we are back to our institutions to interact with our friends and teachers. We are hopeful to have a fruitful academic session this year as well,” he said.
The students were upbeat and were having fun while studying.
“No doubt we remain in touch over the phone during winter vacation but meeting our friends in person gives a different feeling. Not only with our friends, we will have in-person interactions with our teachers as well,” said Sarfaraz Hussain, another student.
Principal of AS College Srinagar Prof Bashir Ahmad Rather said, “As the colleges were closed for a 50-day winter vacation, the constituent colleges of Cluster University Srinagar conducted some exams during the winter break to ensure that there are no disruptions in routine class work post vacation period.”
While the class work for the 5th semester students resumed on Wednesday, Prof Rather said the first semester students admitted last year would resume their classes from February 23 after appearing in their skill exams from February 20 to 22.
“The 3rd semester students will resume class work on February 22 as well,” he said.
Besides the students, all the faculty members of the colleges also resumed their duties and were seen engaging with students.
“Timely resumption of classwork in colleges is crucial in many ways. It helps ensure smooth teaching-learning transactions, timely examinations and time-bound declaration of results,” said Suhail Ahmad who teaches at Government College for Women MA Road, Srinagar. “As a result, there is minimum wastage of time for students, which is significant given the way academic sessions were truncated in the recent past due to COVID-19.”
While the colleges across Kashmir reopened on Wednesday, the University of Kashmir (KU) is scheduled to reopen on Thursday after a 45-days winter vacation. The winter vacation for KU was announced from January 2 to February 15.
The Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) has also scheduled to resume class work of students from February 20, 2023, post winter vacation.
The faculty has already resumed their duties while the routine classwork would resume from February 20.