No offline classes for Gautam Buddha University’s first year students for now

The development comes after the number of students who have taken admission to various undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the academic session 2021-22 has exceeded the carrying capacity of the varsity

With offline classes set to begin from Monday, officials of the Gautam Buddha University (GBU) have exempted first-year students from attending in-person classes as the number of students who have taken admission to its various undergraduate and post graduate courses for the academic session 2021-22 has exceeded the carrying capacity of the varsity .

Currently, the Gautam Buddha University has a capacity for 5,000 students at its 12 boys’ and six girls’ hostels. (HT Archive)

As per the Uttar Pradesh Gautam Buddha University Act of 2002, all registered students of the university have to mandatorily reside within the campus, said officials. “GBU is a residential university and therefore, all registered students have to be accommodated in the university’s hostels. After the Covid-19 outbreak last year, students were allowed to attend online classes from their homes,” said Dr Vishwas Tripathi, registrar of the university.

Currently, the GBU has a capacity for 5,000 students at its 12 boys and six girls’ hostels. However, officials said, the strength of registered students at the university after admissions for the academic session 2021-22 will increase to approximately 6,500. The university will not have space to accommodate around 1,500 registered students. So far, around 1,000 students have taken admission for the 2021-22 academic session.

“The university has introduced a number of new courses this year, such as MTech in Artificial Intelligence, MTech in railway signalling and some new certification courses, due to which admissions have increased here,” said Tripathi.

From October 25, the university expects to welcome at least 3,500 students for offline classes as admissions for some courses will continue till October 30.

“Officials are contemplating solutions to accommodate the extra number of registered students. In the meantime, first year students as well as international students have been exempted from offline classes. We will be welcoming other students from Monday,” said Tripathi.

He added that either the university will have to construct a new hostel building or will have to make changes in the GBU Act to allow registered students to find accommodation elsewhere.

“We will have to find a solution for all the registered students of the varsity to come for their offline classes. In the meantime, the hostels are ready for around 3,500 students who will take in-person lessons from Monday,” said Tripathi adding that the final decision will be taken in the academic council meeting of the university chaired by the vice-chancellor.