KOZHIKODE: As the student protest continues against the action of the authorities in rescheduling the hostel timings on the campus, the classes at National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) have been made online. An NITC circular informed that classes will be held online from March 23 to April 5. Regular classes will start after that and the year-end semester exam will be held on April 17. Online classes have been started for students in undergraduate courses like BTech and BArch. “The end semester examination will be held in offline mode as per the revised academic calendar for the winter semester from April 17. Academic activities for ITEP, postgraduate and PhD students shall continue as usual,” stated a notice issued by A V Babu, Dean (academic), NITC.
The students alleged that online classes were introduced to quell students’ stir. According to students, the new order is also a retaliatory measure against the series of protests held by the students on the campus against the decision to suspend Vysakh Premkumar, a fourth-year BTech student, in January. Action was taken against Vysakh, a Dalit student, for protesting at the celebration programme organised by the Science and Spirituality Club of the campus on January 21, a day before the Ram Temple consecration took place on January 22. The strike by the students demanding the withdrawal of the suspension of Vysakh received much attention and the authorities later withdrew the order.
Rajanikant G K, Dean (Students’ welfare), issued a circular on March 20 imposing a night curfew at the hostel and new time regulations for the canteen that is presently open 24 hours. Later the students intensified their protest on Friday, blocking teachers and staff and disrupting the classes. The latest order to conduct online classes was issued while the students were continuing with their protest in front of the campus. The offers 11 UG programmes and 29 PG programmes, including MBA, and the campus has a total of 6,500 students.