With Delhi University slated to resume offline teaching from Thursday, some of the students outside the station, especially those in senior year, have demanded that classes be delivered in hybrid form.
DU lectures will reopen and resume offline classes from February 17. Some colleges will hold classes for the freshmen in hybrid form, while sophomore and third year students must attend classes in person.
The move has sparked unrest among outpost students who rush to make travel and lodging arrangements. Some of them said that the exams are approaching and that there is no point in arranging housing for a few months.
Delhi University graduates and postgraduates have launched a petition demanding that they be recalled in two months’ time.
Addressed to the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Invigilator and Dean of Student Welfare, the petition has been launched on change.org and has already been signed by more than 40,000 people.
“Several outstation students are concerned about traveling to Delhi. But our voices are drowning in the midst of all the excitement. There are several graduate and postgraduate students like me who are in their final year of studies at DU,” the petition started by Kalyani AP.
“Out-of-station students who are in their senior year should have the opportunity to continue virtually,” it said, adding that the mandatory three-day isolation meant students outside the station would have just three to four days to complete the to plan trip and reach Delhi.
Tanya Pandey (25), final-year student at Campus Law Center and one of the signatories to the petition: “I think students should only be recalled in two months. Since the exams are approaching and we are almost at the end of the semester and the breaks in the middle of the semester are also approaching, there is no point in arranging new accommodation and traveling to Delhi for a few months.”
Harshita, a freshman B.Sc student from Uttarakhand, said online classes are a better option amid COVID-19 as health comes first.
“While the past two years of the pandemic have been very tough for everyone around the world, it has indeed taught us how important health and lives are. So the online classes are a much better option for learning as health comes first, and it also saves our travel time which can be used to take better care of ourselves,” she said.
However, school principals said there are no plans to hold online classes for senior students. The exams will also take place offline.
Miranda House has said it will hold classes for freshmen in hybrid form, while sophomore and third-year students must attend in person.
“We will have a mixed/hybrid form of education and students will receive academic support to reduce stress,” Miranda House director Bijayalaxmi Nanda told PTI.
She said sophomore and third year students will study offline, but they will also receive academic support through online materials.
Likewise, Rajdhani College will only provide online classes for freshmen.
Aryabhatta College director Manoj Sinha said there will be no pressure on students to attend classes, and they are trying to ensure that students can get recorded lectures online.
“We’re thinking of solutions like giving lectures online, in addition to providing technical support to students,” he said.
Even Hansraj College has plans to offer first-year students a hybrid form of study.
Delhi University’s colleges were closed in March 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The university had given the green light for the resumption of the practical in February last year, but classes were suspended in March after the outbreak of the second wave.
In September, the university allowed senior undergraduate and postgraduate students to return to campus, but attendance was low.
