Delhi University warns against fake winter break notice, moves classes online

Delhi University has warned its students against a fake winter break notice circulating on social media media. The fake winter break notice mentions deteriorating air quality and pollution as the reasons for the early announcement of a break from classes.

The fake notice read: “In order to tide over the prevailing environmental pollution caused by Severe Air Quality and implementation of GRAP-IV measures in Delhi, it has been decided to declare 19.11.2024 to 27.11.2024 as winter break for the University and its Colleges. However, all the prescheduled examinations and interviews will be held without any change in schedule. This is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority.”

The Delhi University shared the fake notice on its X handle, captioning it: “FAKE NEWS”.

Meanwhile, the premier institute has decided to shift to online classes till November 23. The decision comes as the air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) reached “alarmingly high” levels, prompting concerns about health and safety.

Delhi University in a notification said regular classes in “physical mode” will resume on November 25. The schedule of exams and interviews, however, remains unchanged.

In a notification, the Delhi University said, “The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi & NCR has deteriorated to an alarmingly high index. In the larger interest of students of the Colleges and the Departments of the University of Delhi, it has been decided that the classes shall be conducted in Online Mode till Saturday the 23rd November, 2024.”

The decision to move all classes to online mode after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) imposed the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage 4 in Delhi NCR from Monday, November 18, which saw the Air Quality Index AQI dipping into the ‘severe plus’ category.

Today, on November 20, Delhi recorded an AQI at 424 as of 9 am today, placing it in the ‘severe’ category.