The State government's latest instruction to higher educational institutions to resume online classes has not come as a complete surprise to teachers and administrators in the wake of the upsurge in COVID-19 cases across Tamil Nadu.
The indications to the development were there in the government’s announcement earlier this month ordering closure of schools for students of classes 9 to 11 from March 22, for this instruction, college teachers say.
Bharathidasan University, accordingly, has issued instructions to wardens that the hostels be kept open only till month-end, since the government had permitted holding of practical examinations till then.
Only Ph.D. scholars will be permitted to stay back to make sure that their research activities are not affected.
The standard operating procedure will be strictly be adhered to while allowing the researchers to remain in the hostels, University Registrar Gopinath Ganapathy said.
University faculty have taken the stand that research activities that gained momentum over the last few months will be impacted substantially otherwise.
While there is no problem in conducting classes online, research activities can happen only in laboratories, a professor pointed out.
One section of faculty is of the view that the government, while permitting political gatherings, temple events and other functions, has adopted a different yardstick for educational institutions.
Nevertheless, college teachers are not unduly worried about getting back to online mode.
The offline classes began in December last and the teachers say they have completed over 70% of the portions.
“"The rest of the content can easily be covered through online classes,” a professor of a city college said.
When their opinion was sought on resumption of online classes, Vice-Chancellors of universities conveyed to the government that most of the portions have been covered through offline classes since December.
Emergence of clusters in colleges and hostels in the region has indeed caused unease among the teachers.
One major factor is implementation of the standard operating procedure. For instance, permitting only 50% of students in classrooms has been a tough task for the teachers.
Students have heaved a sigh of relief over resumption of online classes, but not all colleges have allowed their faculty to teach from home.
Some of the colleges are understood to have instructed their teachers to handle online classes from classrooms, which a majority of faculty say, is not an absolute necessity.
