Madras univ makes Covid negative report must to attend convocation

Madras univ makes Covid negative report must to attend convocation

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.04.2021 

Amid the rise of Covid-19 cases, University of Madras has announced that students and faculty members must be Covid-19 negative to attend the 163rd convocation scheduled for Thursday.

The university is conducting the convocation after a gap of 18 months.

"Around 683 PhD scholars, 86 rank holders and 100 prize winners will receive degrees in person. It has been made mandatory for all students, staff members, senate members to take swab tests for Covid-19. Those with negative reports will only be allowed inside the convocation hall," said vicechancellor S Gowri. "Around 1,24,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 12,011 students from Institute of Distance Education will receive degrees in absentia," he added.

Professors said the university also made arrangements to conduct Covid tests for faculty members at the campus on Wednesday.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit will preside over the convocation and IIT Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi will be the chief guest. Purohit will give DLitt degrees to three candidates. Professor Ramamurthi and vice-chancellor Gowri will give the degrees, medals and prizes to the students.

City colleges under the university said they would conduct graduation day or convocation only after three months of awarding degrees by the university. "The university will award degree certificates to PhD scholars. It will take two to three months to get degree certificates of undergraduate and postgraduate students. So, we will conduct a graduate day function probably in June or July. By then, we expect Covid-19 cases to subside and will distribute the degree certificates in person to the students," a principal from a city college said.

Many colleges distributed degree certificates to students, who had graduated in 2019, in the past few months due to the pandmeic.