The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has started the process of reopening in a phased manner for postgraduate students. The university has permitted about 148 terminal semester students of the Science Schools and SN School to return to the campus for completion of laboratory/practice courses that have either been left incomplete from the last semester or have been postponed to the final semester. The list of students to return was identified by the respective academic units, claims the varsity.
The university has already enabled the return of over 320 research scholars of MPhil, and PhD programmes to the campus. These students belong to various schools of study. In this latest phase announced on Tuesday, the Task Force considered the requirements of academic units that have laboratory/practice components that need to be completed before students graduate in June 2021 and have prioritised the return of about 148 students, the varsity said in an official notice.
“This is the beginning of a gradual process hope that will continue through the next couple of months. As the situation with Covid-19 starts improving and the Government issues guidelines for further unlocking of higher education activities, the University of Hyderabad hopes to facilitate the return of most students to normal academic work,” read the official statement by the varsity.
The vice-chancellor asked the faculty, staff, and students to view this as a “process, whereby all are compelled to prioritise the immediate needs of some students over others”.
“It is not that university administration does not understand the enormous difficulties that students across disciplines are facing with online classes. It is widely recognised that in the Indian context, there is no satisfactory substitute for classroom teaching and that virtual classes are only a last resort,” the official statement of the varsity read.
“UoH has tried to ease some of the problems by facilitating remote access to digital library resources and putting in place a digital access grant for needy students. Elaborate teaching and evaluation guidelines have been framed to suit the current situation. Training has been offered to teachers for effective online teaching, and a learning management system has been put in place. Few central universities in the country have been able to do as much to restart academic activities during this period of crisis,” it claims.
Courtesy: The Indian Express