Students in a fix as Covid shuts colleges in TN

Students in a fix as Covid shuts colleges in TN

The State government’s order to close all colleges, barring medical colleges, in Tamil Nadu in view of the rise in Covid-19 cases has left students and teachers in a fix.

Published: 06th January 2022 05:33 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The State government’s order to close all colleges, barring medical colleges, in Tamil Nadu in view of the rise in Covid-19 cases has left students and teachers in a fix. Though the government advised students to consider this as a study holiday for the upcoming semester exams, this hasn’t brought any solace to teachers and students as the first-year syllabus has not been completed in many colleges.

In some colleges, practical exams were under way and a few had started model tests to prepare students for offline exams, which are scheduled to start from January 21. Amid all this, colleges were suddenly closed leaving students clueless.

“In our college, one model test was held on January 4. I was trying to get back to writing long-form answers, which I have almost forgotten due to online exams. But colleges are now being closed. This means we will now directly have to appear for offline semester exams without anymore practice,” said K Sandhya, a student at a Government Arts and Science college in Chennai.

Another student, T Manivannan, asked, “What about our practical examinations? Will they be conducted or not? Or as was done previously, will we be allotted marks?” Teachers too are worried over the uncertainty regarding when the situation will improve and in-person classes can be resumed. “We will have to resume online classes to complete the syllabus for first-year students. As of now, we are confident that offline semester examinations will be conducted for all students as per the schedule,” said principal of Guru Nanak College MG Ragunathan.