Coronavirus jinx: DU aspirants for 2020 miss enjoying campus life

Students who were supposed to join the colleges soon are sad that they have to now wait till September, all thanks to Covid-19 pandemic!

According to the recent instructions by the University Grants Commission (UGC), colleges in the Capital will reopen from August. This means that the admission process shall kick-start from August, and the new batch of students aka freshers will get to join classes and visit the campus not until it’s September.

Campus is usually abuzz with activities when the new session begins. But, it might not be the same this year. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO (For representational purpose only))

The delay in DU’s admission process is due to the coronavirus pandemic. And this has left those were looking forward to enter campuses as soon as possible, quite heart broken!

“Why us? I mean aaise kya hi karm kiye the ki we have to face this,” questions Dev Gupta, a Delhi-based student who had high hopes of getting to visit the campus and attend college earlier than expected now. He adds, “My sister is from Delhi University, and so is my father. I have heard so much about DU from them. And now was the time to experience whatever they used to talk about, but Covid-19 has ruined it all for me... September is too far!”

“Every year I used to see a rush to get admission in one of the best colleges, and the internet used to get flooded with talks and memes on who made it and how! But this year, it’s highly unlikely to feel all that.”
— Saumya Sharma, a student

For a college-goer, it’s pretty chill at this time of the year to find memes around college cut-off and sweat over every cut-off list that gets announced. But right now, it’s just the pandemic and its affects that are ruling the Internet. Saumya Sharma, a Gurugram-based student, says, “When I was in high school, every year I used to see a rush to get admission in one of the best colleges, and the internet getting flooded with talks and memes on who made it and how! But this year, it’s highly unlikely to feel all that. In fact, some days I search out for old memes and just look at them to feel better. Kuchch to pata lage college life ke baare mein!”

The question is how to wrap around one’s mind on this. Teachers suggest taking the online route. Dr Kanika K Ahuja, associate professor, department of psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, DU, says, “Moving forward, we need newer roadmaps. Newcomers need to take onus of their learning and not depend on teacher’s spoon-feed. Online classes will be the future for quite some time; so learn not to get distracted. Work on your attention spans and be intrinsically motivated. Peer learning will be hampered, so depend on yourselves. Develop other skill sets like writing, research, analyses, and above all, self-determination and resilience... It’s appreciable that flexibility is given to the universities to frame their own examination and academic calenders, keeping in view the UGC guidelines and preparedness and constraints so that the vulnerable sections of students are not adversely affected.”

Anil Kumar, associate professor at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), echoes the same sentiment: “I am of the view that there would be possibilities of disruptions in the traditional mode of teaching in the next academic session. Universities and colleges should prepare themselves by augmentation of online capabilities to conduct some of the courses or portion of the courses online. This should be mandated by the UGC with the necessary funding backup.”

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