CUTTACK: Students of Bhubanananda Orissa School of Engineering (BOSE) staged a demonstration on Tuesday demanding online semester examination following detection of Covid-19 infection on the campus. Three students of BOSE had tested positive for the virus on March 27.
With the offline semester examination scheduled to begin from Wednesday, students held a meeting with the college authorities on Tuesday and demanded cancellation of the examination and test of all hostel inmates and staff of the college for Covid-19. But as the authorities refused to accept their demands, the students blocked the road in front of the institution by burning tyres.
“There are 4,375 students studying at BOSE. If proper precautionary measures are not taken, the infection may spread throughout the campus. We are demanding immediate closure of the institution, thorough contact tracing, testing and sanitisation of the campus besides, cancellation of the offline semester examinations,” said Ashutosh Nayak, a student.
Principal of BOSE, Gyana Ranjan Ray said that he had informed the higher authorities about the demands of the students for online examination and they will take a final call on the matter. Meanwhile, the State Council for Technical Education & Vocational Training has clarified that there will be no change in the mode of examination and if students are found positive, they will be provided PPE kits for appearing the examination.