Jamia students ask varsity to resume on-campus classes

In a demonstration held on the campus, they also demanded the reopening of varsity libraries and reading rooms as well as the canteen and other facilities. The university said all stakeholders, including parents, must be consulted before a decision is taken.

With the Delhi University (DU) and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) restarting in-person classes for students in a phase-wise manner, the students of Jamia Millia Islamia on Wednesday demanded that the varsity also restart on-campus classes in a similar fashion.

Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi (Amal KS/HT Photo)

In a demonstration held on the campus, they also demanded the reopening of varsity libraries and reading rooms as well as the canteen and other facilities. The university said all stakeholders, including parents, must be consulted before a decision is taken.

The students, mostly affiliated to the All India Student Association (AISA) and other student groups, questioned the university’s decision to keep the campus shut when malls, cinema halls, and even other educational institutions were reopening with Covid-19 protocols.

Saud Ahmed Qureshi, a postgraduate student who attended the demonstration outside the vice-chancellor’s office on Wednesday, said marginalised students of the university were the worst affected as the prolonged lockdown has made it difficult for them to access devices needed to pursue online education.

“The online mode of teaching and learning has left a vast majority of students behind,” he said, adding that the students needed to access university spaces to bridge learning gaps and resume their education as before.

Ahmad Azeem, media coordinator, Jamia Millia Islamia, said, “Views of all stakeholders, including parents, will be taken into consideration before a decision on reopening the campus is taken by the executive council of the university. A large number of students and parents wrote to the university administration that at present, online teaching should continue as the environment is still not conducive for offline classes. Health concern of students in view of Covid-19 is a major issue.”

The students also submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor’s office asking for the “immediate reopening” of the campus. “The decision to bring students back for on-campus instruction should be given priority as all options of online education are exclusionary and rely heavily on an unreal degree of digitisation. Classrooms should also be rearranged to allow for social distancing and better ventilation,” students said in the memorandum. Students have also demanded smartphones, laptops, and internet data packs for fellow scholars in need of these.

Protesters also said since the e-library facility started by the administration had “failed miserably”, students were unable to avail of the facility and their loss in terms of learning was “unquantifiable”. They added that many were unable to access non-English reading material.

“Students coming from outside the city will suffer once on-campus classes resume since they don’t have a place to stay as processing hostel applications takes considerable time. Thus, the administration must invite applications for hostel accommodation,” the memorandum said.

The memorandum also urged the administration to waive fee, extend semesters and shift examination dates keeping in mind the situation wrought by the pandemic.