Colleges struggle to make room for students

Colleges struggle to make room for students

Sukshma R & Ragu Raman TNN

Madurai/Chennai:24.11.2021

A day after the higher education department directed all colleges to conduct physical classes for all students, universities and colleges across the state are trying to find ways to accommodate more students on campus while following Covid-19 protocols.

Though the state government removed the shift system, professors and principals said it would be difficult to maintain social distancing inside classrooms and hostels when institutions call full strength back to campus. With most first year students unvaccinated, there is also concern of mixing them with vaccinated students.

Anna University is mulling ways to accommodate all students on campus and hostels following the government order.

“We may allow 30 to 40 students per classroom and will accommodate more than one student per room in hostels. After finalising the details, we will call first year students to campus,” said vice-chancellor R Velraj. The university is already conducting physical classes for second and third year students while online classes are going on for first year students. Final year students finished their classes entirely in physical mode in the current semester.

Madras University is also renovating hostels to accommodate more students. “We have informed all colleges to conduct physical classes for all students. First year PG students will join physical classes after completing their induction programme in online mode,” said S Gowri, vice-chancellor.

Colleges in Chennai like Women's Christian College issued circulars asking all students to attend physical classes. A professor from the college said they will make sure there is no crowding inside the campus.

In Madurai, colleges like Thiagarajar College of Arts and Science and The American College said they would call students back to campus. “We won’t have much of an issue in case of space. The syllabus for this semester will be continued in the physical classes,” said Davamani M Christober, principal of The American College. D Pandiaraja, principal of Thiagarajar College of Arts and Science, said they will revise the syllabus and conduct the exam according to the government’s directive.

Colleges with higher student strength are a little worried about holding all classes offline. But college managements say they can only follow what the government says and it might not be possible to have only a restricted number of students in a classroom and that relaxation is needed.

Students meanwhile also expressed some concerns over Covid-19 vaccination and hostellers also being affected.

“First year students have to come to the campus without being vaccinated. We just wanted this semester exam to be held online. We could have then proceeded to have offline exams from next semester without any delay or confusion. Hostel students who stay in distant areas still have to attend online classes only,” said a second year UG student who took part in the recent protests against offline exams