COVID-19 LOCKDOWN: UGC DRAFTS PLAN TO REOPEN CAMPUSES
All higher education organizations will also need to establish strategic tie-ups with medical facilities and put strategies in place to handle students who are reluctant. Students and teachers with a record of health conditions will be asked to opt for online learning and teaching.
As the human resource development (HRD) ministry educates for meetings on the reopening of schools and colleges, has formulated an initial list of do’s and don’ts for campuses, officials aware of the growth said.
While the final criterion operating procedures ( SOPs) for schools and colleges will be publicized by the government after conversations between the health, HRD and other ministries, the UGC’s draft norms were part of the program at a meeting on the subject on Friday. According to an order granted by the Centre on Saturday, the health ministry may issue a procedure after discussions with the other ministries.
In the outline prepared by the UGC, it was indicated that the process of admissions be conducted online to prevent visits by students to the campus.
“It is advisable the entries are done online so that students don’t have to appear to campuses needlessly. It is also intended that some students, who have the online installation, should be facilitated to not to come to class and study on the web,” said one official, petitioning anonymity.
Students and faculty with a record of illnesses like heart disease or diabetes would be told to choose the online mode. For international students, too, the focus would be on facilitating the online mode of learning.
Institutions would be instructed to stay in touch with fitness facilities and put in place a mechanism for quarantine; reference tracking would be followed in case a Covid-19 case arises. Hygiene in mutual facilities like kitchens and libraries are among the cases raised.
Normal screening of faculty and students and awareness hustles are also part of the plan. In higher educational institutions, regular calls by counselors to help worried students are also planned.
Another suggestion, primarily for the teaching of subjects that have a practical ingredient, is to teach half the learners in the classroom and immerse the rest in laboratories. Even in civil buildings like labs, it will have to be ensured that the appliance is not widely shared.
Varsities and colleges will also compel to have plans in place to govern the movement of outsiders.
“This is a very crucial matter because originally it may seem just an isolated case, but the infection may spread quickly. Therefore, the criteria need to be detailed and detailed. However, these are initial suggestions and a final draft will only come after conversations with all stakeholders,” said a second official, who also petitioned anonymity.
Inder Mohan Kapahy, an old UGC member, said, “We should understand that implementing such SOPs shall be a herculean duty. The total number of students in elevated education is about 40 million which is more than the population of more than 150 countries. Numerical growth has taken place without the innovation of matching infrastructure. Yet non-traditional methods shall be compelled in the post-COVID period.”
