MANGALURU: The Covid-19
pandemic has turned out to be
testing time for
educational institutions to put their
management skills into practice. It includes from following SOPs to arranging online classes, managing
students on campus, to protocols, hostels and the entire campus in whole.
P L Dharma, registrar (evaluation),
Mangalore University, said the pandemic is testing the management skills of institutions from day one. The institutions have been devising new ways to reach out to students through out-of-the-box ideas for uninterrupted learning. Everything is being done keeping in mind government guidelines and SOPs, he noted.
Dharma, who is also a political science professor, adds that teaching skills are also tested, apart from management skills. “First and foremost, a teacher is expected to reach out to the last student. He must reach out to students through whatever channel available, even those who don’t have access to connectivity. Secondly, In India, the mentality is that
classroom teaching cannot be replaced through online classes. With the new normal, a teacher has to make sure that online classes are as attractive and interesting as those in the classroom. Meanwhile, the
online sessions are posted on the internet, and so one must be very careful about his teaching as well as use of words,” explains Dharma.
Some college managements pointed out that campus management has become the complete opposite of what it used to be during the pre-Covid days. “There were some places such as canteens on campus, which rightfully belonged to students, but not now. We don’t even allow them to be there for a minute now, due to the pandemic,” says Alwyn D’Sa, registrar, St Aloysius College. Apart from government SOPs to follow, the college has its internal SOPs, to contain the spread of the virus.
Colleges have switched to a new system from their traditional system. “Classes that happened on campus have been replaced with online ones. On campus, there were just two internal examinations in each semester, but now it has gone up to 10,” said D’Sa, adding that lecturers have also become more compassionate and caring, instead of being strict.