Delhi University (DU) commenced physical classes for a section of students on Wednesday, July 20. Classes have begun for the fifth and seventh semesters of the new academic year. It has been reported that students were exhilarated to be back on campus and make up for the college time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The students are hopeful that it would be their first fully offline semester. Previously, they had only attended online classes as colleges were shut down due to the pandemic. However, they also claimed that the attendance was low in various colleges on the first day, as per PTI.
A third-year student of Hindu College, Harshvardhan, who attended the physical classes, said that normalcy was returning. "It is good to be back on the campus, it feels like the pre-COVID times. The attendance was, however, low as outstation students are yet to return from their hometown," he said.
Lakshay, another third-year student of Kirorimal College, said that he did not have any class scheduled for the day but there was an introductory session. "We didn't have classes today. Teachers have told us that classes will start properly from next week when all outstation students will be back," he said, as per PTI.
Nonetheless, he expressed his excitement over the beginning of the physical classes. "This will be the first time we will be able to start the semester in offline mode. We have one year to redeem all the lost college time. Delhi University was reopened for in-person classes on February 17 after remaining shut for two years," he said.
Today, introductory sessions were held at several colleges at DU to apprise students about the syllabus. The in-person practical classes for third-year students resumed last year, but the university was shut again because of the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in December.
