To prioritise students with lab work if reopen, say Delhi’s colleges, varsities

Most central and state universities said they will wait for detailed guidelines before deciding on conducting in-person lessons and other academic activities

Even as the Delhi government allowed schools, colleges, and educational institutions to reopen in the Capital, most central and state universities said they will wait for detailed guidelines before deciding on conducting in-person lessons and other academic activities. Most universities, however, said that they will prioritise students who are required to do lab work.

Students outside Delhi University’s south campus. (HT Photo)

While Delhi University (DU) announced that it will start in-person classes from August 16, the varsity later rescinded the order saying they will wait for a nod from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). On Friday, the varsity’s registrar Vikas Gupta said, “We already collected feedback from principals and will hold internal meetings to decide on the modalities. Our priority will be science students, of all years, as their course-load involves practical and project work, for which they need to visit laboratories. All other classes are likely to continue online. The final decision will only be taken after a meeting with university officials. Since we have students from across the country, we have to give at least 10 days’ notice before resuming offline classes so that our students have the time to travel to Delhi and arrange for accommodation.”

Other central universities such as Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) also said they will wait for guidelines before arriving at a decision.

Jamia media coordinator Ahmad Azeem said, “Though the Delhi government has allowed offline classes, we have to wait for the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) directives as well. For now, we will hold consultations with all stakeholders including our deans, students, and parents. We might also ask parents and students for their feedback to ensure a wider consultation process, following which we will approach the university’s highest decision-making body [the executive council].”

RP Singh, Rector-3, JNU, said, “After getting the official notification from DDMA, the JNU Covid monitoring committee may discuss the phased reopening of the campus as done earlier.”

Rector-1, Chintamani Mahapatra, also said science students will most likely get the priority due to their lab work.

Meanwhile, several state universities such as Delhi Technological University (DTU), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and Ambedkar University of Delhi (AUD) said they will soon formulate a plan for the phased reopening based on guidelines that DDMA and the directorate of higher education are expected to issue in the coming days.

IP university vice-chancellor Mahesh Verma said they will allow students the flexibility to attend classes either online or offline based on their preferences. “Since we had research scholars using our laboratories, our labs and other infrastructure are ready. We already have a Covid-19 safety protocol in place and most of our staff is at least partially vaccinated. Since 85% of our students are from Delhi, we are hoping for a good response.”

DTU V-C Yogesh Singh said, “The priority will be PhD and PG students followed by undergraduate students. As far as lab work is concerned, our students are divided into multiple batches so they can be allowed to return for practicals but our class strength is around 85. So for now, we are planning that theory classes will be conducted online. If some students need to come to campus to use the internet or to interact with teachers for theory as well, we may allow that on a case-to-case basis.”