The joy of physically coming back to college in February 2022 took a backseat for some college students under Delhi University as they have temporarily switched to online classes. As all colleges are accommodating second and third-year students for their exams, the above decision was taken to conduct the exams in a smooth manner.
While some students are facing various challenges with the back and forth between offline and online classes, others are neutral and are considering online classes as a chance to bump up their attendance, which has been low since a few of them didn't attend classes on campus.
What students say
When Edexlive approached a few students and asked whether they are satisfied or not with the current decision, Kritika Gupta, a student of Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology, expressed, "I'm not happy with the decision but then I feel they didn't have any other choice than to switch to online as they had a shortage of classrooms."
"I'm neutral because it's good in a way that we get to have more time through online mode. But I wouldn't deny that offline has its own advantages, as we get to learn many things that we don't usually come across during online classes," Hasanpreet Kaur, a student of Hansraj College, shared.
Nancy Goyal, a student of Shri Ram College of Commerce College, mentioned, "There is a mixed feeling. Due to the heatwave, I wasn't able to cope with day-to-day college. But on the other hand, I'm not able to concentrate during online classes either."
Given that online classes can be attended from anywhere, paying the rent for PG and attending online classes seems futile to them because they might as well head back home, still manage to attend online classes and save on rent.
In this context, Krithika stated, "Students have adapted to the habit of sitting in the classroom, focusing, concentrating and writing notes but since we switched to the online mode, students might start taking the classes casually."
Krithika also added that additional admissions taking place over the past two to three years are one of the reasons behind the switch to online classes. Adding further, she said that due to the discrepancy in the academic calendar, the colleges were compelled to conduct second and third-year examinations together.
Clearing the air
While few online reports and few students opined that the shift to online classes is only because of fewer classrooms, Registrar of Delhi University, Dr Vikas Gupta, cleared these claims stating that DU has not issued any official notice regarding the shift in the mode of classes. It is the decision of a few colleges that are facing difficulty in accommodating candidates appearing for second and third-year exams in view of the COVID-19 protocol which has to be followed, the Registrar added.
Dr Vikas stressed that, "There is no scarcity of classes." This is temporary and it is being followed to maintain the sanctity of exams by following COVID-19 protocol, he added. The Registrar further shared that the attendance for the ongoing second and third-year exams is 99 per cent, on average. For all others missing out on exams because they or their close ones have tested positive, Dr Vikas said another chance will be given, "We will not put our students in a position of disadvantage."
Principal of Hansraj College, Dr Rama Sharma, confirmed that indeed the decision was taken only because the second and third-year examinations were being held together and, also, the fact that on June 6, offline classes will begin for first-year students." Dr Sharma also assured that there is no lack of infrastructure and they simply wanted to conduct examinations in a peaceful environment.
