City-based colleges gear up for offline lectures from February 15th

After the state higher and technical education minister Uday Samant announced to reopen universities and its affiliated colleges from February 15, city-based colleges have begun preparations for the same

After the state higher and technical education minister Uday Samant announced to reopen universities and its affiliated colleges from February 15, city-based colleges have begun preparations for the same.

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After almost a year, offline lectures in colleges will resume and students will return to universities and college campuses. Along with it, students from outside Pune are also concerned about accommodation, as hostel facilities too will be opened up for students after a long break.

“The past year was really tough for all of us, and students were taught through online mode and even the exams were conducted online. But college campuses don’t look nice without students and so we all are happy that students will now return back to college from February 15. At the same time, we are taking all the necessary safety precautions related to Covid-19 protocols given by the state government. In the guidelines given by the state government, it is mentioned that up to 50 per cent of students can come to attend offline lectures. Accordingly, we are going to call one of three students every day, and the remaining students will attend the online lecture. So, it cannot be a sudden transit from online to offline, instead, it will be a blended model of education from now onwards,” said Rajendra Zunjarrao, principal of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Shivajinagar.

SP College principal V M Solapurkar said, “We are all set to begin offline classes at our college. Accordingly, all preparations have begun to sanitise each and every bench, keeping sanitisers in college premises, thermal checking of each student will be done while entering into the college premises and several other safety measures are being taken as per government Covid protocols. We are following all guidelines given by the state government. Also, several medical pieces of equipment like thermometer and oximeter have been kept to detect any student with symptoms. Social distancing will be maintained in the classroom as students will be called in batches.”

Similarly, students are also excited to return to the college campus after a long gap.

“Being out of the college campus and that atmosphere was missing in my life. Until now, online lectures were going on we were not able to focus that much compared to a physical classroom. Also, all of us friends who meet inside the college campus, will take necessary safety precautions of face mask, hand sanitiser and social distancing.” said Shalaka Seth, second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).