Russian universities have the right to independently postpone the start of the school year for up to two months until the epidemic situation in the region normalizes.

This was announced by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Dmitry Afanasyev at a press conference on the admission campaign in 2020, Russian media say.

According to him, the Ministry of Education and Science proceeds from the base scenario, according to which the school year on September 1 will begin in the usual format.

“But at the same time, it can be completely different in different regions, there are two development options: the first is that today, according to the law, universities, by decision of the academic council, have the right to postpone the start of the school year for up to two months. This, of course, is not very convenient, but there may be such an option - to postpone the start of the school year until the end of this dangerous situation, "

The second option, according to Afanasyev, is that universities can start the new academic year remotely.