Following the State government’s announcement to reopen colleges for first and second year undergraduate students, arts and science colleges here have started making preparations.
Though the colleges were open for final year students and following the COVID-19 safety protocol, the managements say the entry of first and second year students pose fresh challenges and that the State government will do well to address those.
The first of the challenges is accommodating students while adhering to social distancing norm. A few management representatives The Hindu spoke to said though the emphasis on adhering to the norm works well on paper, practically it is impossible, what with the government allowing 100% occupancy in cinemas, buses and opening up shops and markets where people crowd.
To overcome the problem, colleges will first ask either the first or second year students to attend classes, complete the lab/practicals wherever it is a part of the coursework and then ask the other year students to turn up for classes.
The Bharathiar University has also planned something on similar lines, says Vice Chancellor P. Kaliraj. The University will first ask the first year students to attend colleges as the university and its affiliated colleges have not yet seen the students, have to verify their credentials and then ask the second years to return.
Even as one batch attends class in classroom the other batch can attend classes online, he says and suggests that the University may continue with online examination system, at least for now. The University will decide on this after holding a meeting with the management representatives and principals, he adds.
At the Government Arts College, student strength is not much of a problem in most of the disciplines, says a faculty, adding that wherever there are more students, the College will hold the classes in ‘gallery’ classrooms that have enough space to accommodate all students.
There are other attendant issues that the colleges face and the government and University must intervene like the issue concerning college buses, says Ajeet Kumar Lal Mohan, president, Association of Self Financing Arts, Science and Management Colleges of Tamil Nadu.
The government is silent on bus transport, particularly inter-state operation of buses as in border district like Coimbatore many students and even faculty are from Kerala.
Likewise, the government has asked colleges also to install vehicle tracking equipment and CCTV cameras in buses while a Madras High Court in this regard was only for schools. This additional cost has come at a time when colleges are short of funds because of lockdown, he says and adds that the Government order has come at a time when the colleges have little time to implement the order.
The other challenge is of colleges with hostels. The government order that managements should allow only one student in a room poses is difficult and it should do something about it, says a college principal.
Conceding that accommodating students in keeping with the COVID-19 safety protocol is a challenge, Mr. Kaliraj says the University will work with the colleges to arrive at a solution.