BIJAPUR; 17 Nov: Despite the government reopening the colleges during Covid pandemic after a gap of around eight months, the students appeared reluctant to attend the classes as the present of the students on the first day was negligible.
As per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the academic activities for the year 2020-21 of the students of final year of undergraduate and postgraduate kick-started on Tuesday. The colleges in Bagalkot and Bijapur received mixed response as students failed to turn-up in good numbers.
Out of the 2,600 students in the Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University (KASWU) hardly 10 percent of the students attended classes on the day one of the new academic year. Among the attended 30 to 40 percent had failed to bring the undertaking letter from parents and Covid-19 medical test report, which are mandatory to enter the college.
Professor Onkar Kakade, acting vice-chancellor of KSAWU, said that they haven’t received the response they were expecting on the first-day of the new academic year. As the festival concluded on Monday, the students might turn-up later this week to the colleges.
“ But we have also informed the students to bring the undertaking to get an entry to the classes. If the students fail to bring the Covid-19 test reports, they will be made to go under rapid antigen test in the university premises. Even the teaching and non-teaching staff are going under the same test”, he added.
The classes will be continued to conduct online until the student’s turn-up in full strength. We have also disinfected the hostels and class rooms. The classes are being conducted in big halls in order to ensure that the social distance is maintained”, he said.
Even the private colleges affiliated to the Rani Chennamma University and KSAWU have witnessed poor attendance of students. In BLDEA’s SB Arts and KCP Science College only five out of 500 students turned-up to the college. Professor Ashok Pujari, principal of the college said that, “When lecturers contacted students’ majority of them complained about the delay in receiving Covid-19 medical reports, which is one of the main reasons students failed to turn-up to the college.” In Basveshwara Arts College of Bagalkot very few students turned-up to college.
Soumya Huded, a final year postgraduate and a resident of Navanagar of Bagalkot said that, “Initially parents were afraid to send us to the college because the cases of Covid-19 are continuing to report every day. Only after the lecturers from college spoke with parents and were assured of taking all the measures – the parents are allowing. Now, I have gone under Covid test and am waiting for the report. If the report comes negative, I will start going to college,” said Soumya.
Meanwhile, the college authorities had prepared to resume the classes as per Covid guidelines where classes were sanitized, students were allowed to enter the classes after getting thermal screening conducted.
