KOCHI: These had been a testing 10 months for the students doing higher education courses in around 1,350 colleges in the state. So much so that when the state government announced the reopening of the institutions, the students hurried back to their alma maters. Sahala Nayeem A A, a second-year postgraduate student in Chemistry with St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, and her friends except one who is from Haryana reported for classes on Monday.
The same is the case at nearly all colleges in the state. “Online classes were going on well. But it has its limitations. Learning in a classroom atmosphere has its advantages and since we are in the final year, we were worried about whether we will be able to pass out in time,” she said. Though we were happy to see our friends again after such a long time, due to Covid protocol everyone decided to stick to their own designated places, she added.
According to Chandu K S, a student of Maharaja’s College, everyone is very happy to be back on the campus. “Except for those who used to stay in private hostels and lodges outside the campus along with students who are in containment zones, all others came for the classes,” he said. However, unlike before the pandemic, the students were visibly wary of mingling and preferred to stick to the Covid rules, added Chandu.
“It is expected that more students will come in the coming days once their problems with accommodation get sorted out,” he said. Gibin Jacob, assistant professor, St Paul’s College, Kalamassery said, “Before the pandemic, only on a very rare day did the classes have full attendance. Students used to find excuses for not coming to college. But on Monday, we saw final-year UG and PG first year and second year classes in full strength,” he said. It might have been the long stay at home away from their friends that led to this, he added. “BCom taxation, which is our star course, has a strength of 55 students and the entire batch turned up,” he said.
No repeat classes
One of the worries, when it came to conducting classes with 50 per cent of students in a single shift, was the increase in the workload of teachers. “They would then have to teach a single portion twice,” said M Usman, general secretary, Kerala Private College Managements’ Association. According to him, only final year undergraduate and the first and second year postgraduate classes were being held on campus.
“So, the colleges decided to use large classrooms and seminar halls to conduct classes in a single go. As such, only UG courses, especially BCom and BA have a significant number of students,” he said. UG students were accommodated in seminar halls while PG students sat in UG classrooms, said Usman.
According to him, classes were held in strict adherence to Covid protocol. Meanwhile, colleges where halls were turned into examination halls, conducted the classes in two sessions.
“We allowed only 50 per cent of the students on the campus. The classes for the remaining 50 per cent were live-streamed. So, if today batch A came to the college and B remained home, it will be batch B which will be coming to the campus tomorrow while batch A will attend the classes online,” said Shiny Palatty, principal, Bharat Matha College, Ernakulam.