DAVANGERE: Expressing solidarity with the government in fighting COVID-19, Davangere University Vice Chancellor Prof Sharanappa V Halase on Friday said that the examinations for post graduate and under graduate courses may be held in July, if things return to normal by May end.
The examinations are generally held in the months of April and May but COVID-19 has put the brakes on academics and examinations at the
university.
Apart from two post graduate centres located at Shivagangotri in Davangere and Guddada Rangavvanahalli in Chitradurga, there are about 124 under graduate
colleges, one constituent college and two autonomous institutions running under the University.
Speaking exclusively to The New Indian Express, he said that the COVID-19 situation is very grim and minor negligence may lead to disaster, hence it
is better to stay safe at home till May end. As per the government's directions, colleges will not be opened till May 31. After that, based on the directions of the government, classes will be restarted in June and examinations will be held in July.
"Science stream students need to undergo laboratory tests and further experiments have to be conducted. Hence, another one month's rigorous coaching is needed
for the students before they take up examinations for the academic year," he observed.
"As per the information collected by me, 60-70 percent of the syllabus of post graduate courses and 70-80 percent of the syllabus of undergraduate courses has
been completed before the lockdown period and the rest would have been completed by March end if everything was right. However the spread of
COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has prompted us to close the classes and send back the students to their homes," he said.
Zoom app to be used for online teaching
The Vice Chancellor has directed the deans, chairmans of departments, professors and assistant professors of the post graduate centres at Davangere, Guddada
Rangavvanahalli and all the affiliated colleges to download the Zoom app from the Google Playstore and provide online teaching for the students in the wake of the lockdown.
100 students can interact with the lecturers at a time and get trained by them. Their doubts can also be resolved immediately. All the departments have formed separate WhatsApp groups and coaching is going on a big way to ensure that the students remain busy with their academics, he pointed out.
Science stream theory classes including visual presentations are being provided to students of microbiology, biotechnology, biochemistry, chemistry, botany,
physics, mathematics and other science departments. Along with this, commerce and MBA wings have also started online classes for their students, while the Social Sciences faculty is going to start virtual classrooms through the Zoom app, he said.
"Regular interaction with the lecturing staff on the progress of the e-classes is being done. Even though the syllabus is being covered through this method, we have to take rigorous coaching for the students for at least four to six weeks in the coming days once the lockdown period is over and things become normal," he explains.