CHENNAI: Very few students returned to colleges even as in-person classes resumed for final year students and all medical students on Monday. Fears over safety and inadequate transport facilities are among the reasons why students have chosen to stay at home.
The Tamil Nadu government has allowed the resumption of classes for students in all medical and allied courses and final year students of other courses from Monday. With physical classes being voluntary, many students have opted to continue studying from home.
Meena Kumari, an engineering student from Erode, said that only six out of over 30 students in her class came to college. "I cannot study at home. So I decided to risk it. Our college followed all safety protocols, so I felt safe. But no student from other districts came to class," she said.
Most colleges saw less than half the students show up for classes on Monday. "There were at least a handful of science stream students who turned up to try their laboratory experiments. But there were hardly any students from the arts and humanities stream," said a teacher from a prominent arts and science college in the city.
She added that most autonomous colleges have already completed the semester syllabus for final year students and classes are still happening only for first year students as colleges started very late
in the year for them.
A student from an autonomous arts and science college in Nungambakkam said that her college has already started the semester exams online. "We will be called for practicals in batches after the semester exams," she said.
Sethu Lakshmi, a final year student at the University of Madras from Kerala, said that while she wanted to return to college, she was scared of taking public transport to Chennai.
"The college may follow all safety protocols, but my parents and I are scared of taking public transport. I cannot afford to arrange a car and travel now," she said, adding that she and a few of her college friends are planning to quarantine themselves and rent a car together after a week.
Amelie, a student from an arts and science college in the city, said that she was uncomfortable taking the flight from Manipal, where she stays. "We will have Christmas vacations soon and I have to be at home for that. I do not want to take a flight twice in the same month. It will make it twice as risky. So I will come directly in January," she said.
New normal:
Thermal scanning at the entrance, sanitation breaks at the end of each class to wash hands, distribution of masks and only one student in each bench has become the new norm in colleges. "Only two hostel students showed up and even they came to take back their belongings," said a teacher from a city college.
Research students have turned up in better numbers, said a faculty member from an engineering college on the outskirts of Chennai. "Among undergraduate students, the footfall is really poor. Closer to the practical examinations, we are expecting more students to come," he said.
Meanwhile online classes are continuing in most institutions. While students are likely to visit colleges to clear doubts in small numbers, the trend of remote classes is likely to go on for a while.