University Grants Commission acting chairman Prof Muhammed Alamgir said universities can decide on their own whether to go for online classes amid the ongoing heatwave.

"As a whole we will not give any directive to public or private universities about closing their classes or online classes," Alamgir told The Daily Star this afternoon.

He said this is an academic affair of each university and the UGC cannot interfere in the issue. Alamgir said UGC believes that universities will take decision keeping the wellbeing of students in mind.

He made the comments hours after the authorities of Dhaka University (DU) and Jagannath University (JnU) today decided to hold classes virtually due to the ongoing heatwave.

The classes at DU will be held online until further notice while the JnU classes will be held virtually till April 25.

Earlier, National University authorities yesterday suspended classes of all colleges under the university for an indefinite time due to the heatwave.

On the same day, all schools and colleges were declared closed till April 27 through separate notifications.