Members of the Students Federation of India, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) seem to have adopted the maxim "taking matters into your own hands" quite literally. The students, who have been in talks with the management since the end of September for a reopening of the campus say that they have not received a solid response yet, despite the management hinting that a decision will be taken by mid-October.
So, on October 12, a few students, who are also members of the SFI sat outside the classroom area at the KG campus and conducted "classes" on The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels for about 20 students of AUD.
"We don't plan to stop any time soon. We will have classes on alternate days, so as not to disrupt the ongoing ug admission process. However, the administration has to understand that students need to get back to the classrooms. And so we shall continue this form of protest," says Anil Sethumadhavan, President SFI AUD, adding that they took this approach because they intended to increase interest in the students on campus on physical classes again. And the ubiquitous nature of Friedrich Engels across streams such as History and Sociology made it an easy pick for the first lesson.
The AUD administration conducted a vaccination drive last month for the staff and students, and according to Anil, most of the students have already been inoculated with one dose, and a good number of them have been fully vaccinated. The student union also claims that they have conducted a survey of AUD students — about 200 of them — and around 70 per cent have said a resounding 'yes' to restarting classes on campus once again.
"We have no official word from the lecturers yet because we believe they might e under pressure from the administration, but they have told us in confidence that even they want a return to offline classes as soon as possible," Anil claims. Online classes are disruptive, say the students, adding that they need access to labs and libraries to get their education back on track.
Edexlive has written to the AUD administration seeking a response on the matter. This copy will be updated when we receive one.
