Colleges, varsities reopen to low attendance in Haryana

Colleges, varsities reopen to low attendance in Haryana

Siddharth.Tiwari@timesgroup.com

Gurgaon:17.11.2020

Colleges and universities across Haryana resumed physical classes for the first time in the 2020-21 academic session on Monday. The attendance, however, remained significantly low on the first day. Officials in the education department attributed it to the festive season and the rising number of Covid-19 cases in NCR.

As per the SOPs issued by the higher education department, institutions have drawn up a roster and limited the visit of each student to thrice a week. Online classes, however, are to continue until the Covid situation stabilises and fresh directives are issued by the Centre.

“Colleges and universities across the state resumed their physical classes in a staggered manner on Monday. Due to the festive season, a few colleges are observing holidays but they will reopen soon too. We have had discussions with the deans and the college administrations and asked them to prepare a plan to rationalise the number of students visiting the campus on a single day. A strict compliance with the SOPs is a must and any dereliction will invite action,” said an education department official.

While a few colleges opened on Monday, several others remained shut due to the holiday declared by Gurugram University. A few that did open did not even see 1% attendance. For instance, at Dronacharya Government College, only 20 students turned up. A brief counselling session was held in the open about the government’s plan to roll out a hybrid mode of education — online and offline — and Covid-related protocols to be followed.

“The attendance wasn’t encouraging and will take time to improve. There could be several reasons, like the ongoing festive season.We have issued rosters and daywise plans to the faculty and the students,” said Pooja Khullar, the principal of Dronacharya Government College.

Colleges have chalked out plans to ensure staggered entry of students on the campus to ensure physical distancing and make monitoring manageable. Some colleges are also planning to roll out the odd-even formula, in which students would be called on the basis of their roll numbers.

“As and when the strength increases, we will divide the students in sections, with not more than 20 in each. Also, the classroom sessions are being planned in a way that each student visits the campus only twice a week,” she added.