DU colleges expect attendance to increase from Monday

College heads said many outstation students were yet to reach Delhi due to which they were waiting till the next week for attendance to regularise to pre-pandemic levels

New Delhi: Two days after reopening for in-person classes, Delhi University colleges on Saturday conducted practical sessions and tutorials for students amid a moderate turnout. College administrators said that while students have been visiting campus for classes and routine visits since Thursday, they were expecting the turnout of students to increase further from Monday.

Students at Miranda House in Delhi University after it reopened on Thursday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

After nearly two years of pandemic-induced closure, colleges under Delhi University resumed in-person classes for students on Thursday. Most college principals said that the first-day turnout had surpassed their expectations. While turnout reduced relatively on Friday, college heads said classes had resumed mid-week and many outstation students were yet to reach the capital due to which they were waiting till the next week for attendance to regularize to pre-pandemic levels.

DU Principals’ Association (DUPA) president Jaswinder Singh, who is also the principal of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, said that while students had turned up for practical sessions on Saturday, the attendance was not at par with the first-day turnout. “Students came for the practical sessions today. While the turnout was not as good as it was on the first day, we are expecting the rush to be back starting from Monday. More outstation students are also expected to join us,” said Singh.

He said that while the college was mostly conducting offline classes in line with the university’s reopening directive, some teachers had been recording lectures for the convenience of students who are unable to attend physical classes. “While some teachers have been recording lectures at their own level, most of the time it’s not possible to hold hybrid classes’ simultaneously. The teacher teaches on the blackboard and the laptop cannot always capture everything that is being taught within the physical classroom. In such cases, they share the notes and presentations with students so that they do not miss out on classes till the time they are able to join college,” said Singh.

At Ramjas College too, classes are taking place offline while teachers have been advised to cooperate with students who might need support. Manoj Khanna, principal of Ramjas College, said that many students had visited the college this week to gauge the situation, they had shared that the remaining students would return to campus only by Monday. “On the first day, many students simply came to see the modalities of reopening and assess the situation. They have shared that more of their classmates will be joining classes in person starting from Monday so we are hopeful that attendance will go up and we will be able to conduct offline classes without any obstacles,” said Khanna.