No regular sanitisation after classes resumed, guest lecturers being humiliated: Jadavpur University teachers write to VC

Jadavpur University has not been regularly sanitising its classrooms and labs ever since educational institutions in West Bengal opened their doors to students on November 16, alleged the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) on December 10. This allegation along with a list of 13 others comes at a time when, due to the rising cases of the Omicron variant across India, Calcutta University has decided to hold exams online for students in the first, third and fifth semesters of undergraduate programmes the month of January and February.

In a letter to the Vice-Chancellor Dr Suranjan Das, the JUTA said that not only is the administration lax when it comes to COVID preparedness, but there also seems to be a lack of trust in the contractual teachers. "The disrespectful clause that is included in the appointment letters issued to guest teachers, requiring them to provide proof of having conducted online classes, must be withdrawn immediately," said Dr Partha Pratim Ray, General Secretary of the JUTA. Not just that, the JUTA also said that there is an extreme space crunch after the increase in the number of students in departments across all the faculties. How is it possible to conduct classes following COVID SoPs in such a situation?

The teachers also said that they are not getting any help from the administration when it comes to conducting online exams. "Teachers are getting no support from the office of the Controller of Examinations regarding the conducting of online examinations. All the work for such examinations is being done by the teachers. The COE’s section must take on the full responsibility for conducting all types of examinations, which will only be doing their job," said Dr Ray. "In several cases, the examination process has been diluted by the administration without any proper discussion in duly-constituted academic bodies," he added.

The list of issues highlighted in the letter point out 14 such irregularities at the state university and demands immediate redressal. The administration has not commented on the issue yet.