Jamia to reopen in phase-wise manner from November, says registrar

Jamia Millia Islamia officials said the university will open in phases for final year students in undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses from November. It did not give a date for reopening. Officials said the students coming to campus may be asked to show an RT-PCR negative test report or vaccination certificate.

Following protests by several student groups demanding the reopening of the campus to all students, Jamia Millia Islamia on Thursday announced a phase-wise reopening plan for its final-year students in undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses from November. The university, however, has not given any date for the reopening.

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) were demanding reopening of the campus that has stayed closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Jamia officials said students coming to the campus for lab and practical work will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report or a vaccination certificate. (Amal KS)

Registrar Nazim Hussain Jafri said the decision was taken after an academic council meeting on September 13. “The university campus shall be opened to PhD scholars who are due to submit their thesis on or before December 31, 2021. The final year/semester students may attend clinical and practical classes offline from the month of November in limited numbers, subject to the adherence of Covid-19 health and hygiene protocols,” said an order released by Jafri’s office on Wednesday.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Jafri said, “PhD students have already been coming to the campus for their work. As far as final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students are concerned, our statutory bodies have decided that status quo should be maintained till October 31. We will hold a meeting after that and decide whether it would be conducive to call them to the campus from November, based on the Covid-19 situation prevalent at that time.”

Students coming to the campus for lab and practical work will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report or a vaccination certificate. The university has specified that teaching and examinations of all undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programmes will continue in the online mode and hostel facilities will remain suspended.

“Departmental library facility will be opened to PhD and final-year/semester students on production of their latest negative RT-PCR report/vaccination certification,” the university said in the order.

Students have been campaigning and demanding the reopening of the university over the past few weeks. Earlier this week, a representation of students, comprising members of at least five student groups, approached the university administration to make a case for the reopening of the university that has remained closed since last year when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

In a joint statement, students said it was crucial to open the university since students have been facing difficulties during remote learning. Students said while most institutions and public spaces have opened, the campus continued to remain shut. They said the possibility of reopening the university in the near future looked bleak. “AC and EC meetings were held four to five days ago, but the minutes have not yet been released. In this situation, the students are facing uncertainty over the reopening of the campus,” the statement issued by the student organisations said.

Students said they were disappointed with the varsity order. “The circular hasn’t addressed the core demand of restarting in-person classes for all students. The permission for research scholars and final year students to use library isn’t of much use as most students are away at their native places and the hostels are shut,” said Musaddiq Mubeen, a postgraduate student and president of Students’ Islamic Organisation’s Jamia unit.