CHENNAI: With the government giving green signal for colleges to fully reopen, members of the management while welcoming the decision, warned that physical distancing will go for a toss if all students return to campuses. With just over a week for colleges to reopen, many colleges say that students too are extremely hesitant to attend classes physically.
Over a month after the government permitted final year students to resume inperson classes, less than half the students have turned up in many institutions. “Most students prefer online classes. They are very hesitant. We have mandated students in science departments to complete their practicals in-person. The attendance in arts and commerce departments are very very low,” said Santhosh Baboo Sethuraman, the principal of DG Vaishnav College, Arumbakkam.
He added that any decision can be taken only after seeing the footfall on February 8. “We have issued instruction to all heads of the departments to prepare a customised academic calendar for their own department. With that autonomy, they can take decisions based on special needs of students,” he said. RM Kishore, vice-chairman, RMK Group of Institutions told Express that while he welcomed the government’s decision to reopen institutions, stakeholders are mired in confusion as there has been no fresh Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
“If the government puts a cap on the number of students we can have in a class, then we have to run shifts,” he said. He added that online classes may have to be discontinued. “Teachers cannot attend to both students in classes and online,” he said. Sai Prakash Leo Muthu, CEO, Sairam Institutions, said that another issue that colleges are likely to face is having sufficient hostel facilities. He explained that there are three kinds of students — those who stay nearby with their families, hostelers and students who stay by themselves outside college campus.
“Parents have gotten increasingly uneasy with letting children stay on their own during the pandemic. All these students want to be accommodated in the hostel,” he said. He elaborated that the current SOP also mandates that only student be allowed in a room. “We cannot follow that procedure if all students return,” he said adding that his college has decided to continue online classes for as long as possible.
‘Difficult task’
The principal of a arts and science college said she was scared that students will hug each other or share food and take public transport together, discarding distancing norms.