Colleges to upgrade infrastructure, conduct sanitisation, set up WiFi facilities, roster of vaccinated students and staff

Less than a week before officially closing for Diwali break, many colleges are busy setting up or upgrading their infrastructure to accommodate hybrid classes once classrooms reopen for students in the third week of November

Less than a week before officially closing for Diwali break, many colleges are busy setting up or upgrading their infrastructure to accommodate hybrid classes once classrooms reopen in the third week of November. Sanitisation and social distancing rules have, however, been implemented on campus.

Many colleges are expecting to see a higher number of students attending lectures post-holidays and are prepping accordingly by upgrading infrastructure, conducting sanitisation, and setting up WiFi facilities (PTI)

“Our teachers are proctoring online exams for second-year students at present, while they are also conducting classes at the same time because we had to restart physical classes as per the government orders. We are looking ahead and preparing for more students to join classes post-Diwali break,” said Marie Fernandes, principal of St Andrew’s College, Bandra. At her college, classes have begun but to a low student turnout. Many colleges are expecting to see a higher number of students attending lectures post-holidays and are prepping accordingly.

“For hybrid classrooms, we will need WiFi across the campus so that the same lecture taught by a teacher in the classroom is relayed to students sitting at home as well. We are ensuring the infrastructure is in place, but are unsure of how many students will attend regular lectures,” she added.

In the second week of October, minister for state higher and technical education Uday Samant announced the reopening of colleges starting October 20 only for fully vaccinated staff and students. In a statement made on October 13, Samant suggested that colleges should continue online classes for students who are not yet fully vaccinated.

Most colleges on October 20, the first day of college reopening, wore a deserted look. While undergraduate students are currently appearing for online exams, postgraduate students could not attend lectures either because they are not fully vaccinated or because they are currently attending lectures from different cities and states in the country.

“Unless the government makes it compulsory for students to physically attend colleges, a majority will pick online classes. Colleges are helpless and even if five students show up for physical lectures, we will have to continue hybrid lectures,” said the principal of a south Mumbai college. He added that they are still waiting for consent forms from nearly 85% of students who have not yet agreed to attend physical classes and have instead chosen online lectures.

“Other than students, we also need to make sure our teaching and non-teaching staff is vaccinated. We have, therefore, started collecting data to understand how many of them are fully vaccinated and by when will the rest complete their second dose,” said Naresh Chandra, principal of Birla College, Kalyan. “We can run the institute smoothly only once the full strength of staff is in place.”