City college marks students studying from home ‘absent’

CONFUSED LOT

City college marks students studying from home ‘absent’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 10.01.2021

A circular from Stella Maris College created confusion among final year students as it said attendance would be awarded only to those students who attend physical classes. As per the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government, attendance is not mandatory for this semester and colleges should offer both online and offline classes to students.

Many students enrolled with the college had decided to study the final semester from homes considering the pandemic. However, students who had skipped offline classes were marked absent.

“With no online classes for students, they are making it compulsory for them to attend college and are denying attendance to those who don’t go in person. This has caused students to fear that they may not have the minimum attendance requirement to write the final exams,” parent of a student from the city said.

The college’s rules stipulate that students need to have at least 85% attendance to appear for exams. The new semester began in the last week of December.

“At first, the college said we could choose to either come back to college or not for the new semester. So we thought

they would arrange online classes or circulate recorded lectures. But they provide only study material. Since I preferred to study from my home in Kerala, my attendance was also marked zero,” a final year student said. “Though the college said it would follow the government’s rules regarding attendance, they have advised us to come back to college to finish our final semester,” she added.

Another student said the college should arrange online classes for those choosing to study from home. “The college managementsaysitis notforcing us. But what’s the point when we pay fees yetdon’t get a proper education?” she asked.

When asked about the circular, Rosy Joseph, principal of Stella Maris College, said the college is not forcing any student to come to college. “We are taking attendance only for physical classes and submitting attendance details to the government on a daily basis and providing study material for those who could not attend classes. We have not made it mandatory for final year students to come to the college,” she said.