Mixed Response To Colleges Opening In Karnataka
College students in Karnataka are back on campus after months of absence due to the COVID 19 pandemic. And while the campuses came to life with the return of the young students - feelings were decidedly mixed.
College students in Karnataka are back on campus after months of absence due to the COVID 19 pandemic. And while the campuses came to life with the return of the young students - feelings were decidedly mixed.
One student at Bengaluru’s St Joseph’s College, who had come in to take an exam, told NDTV, “It’s fine. We have to live with Corona now.”
Another student said, “There are elders at home. Not only are we putting our lives at risk, but we are endangering them too.”
The Karnataka government has made COVID 19 negative certificates compulsory for returning staff and students - in addition to the other SOPs issued by the UGC.
The deputy chief minister, Dr Ashwathnarayan, visited a college to check the ground situation. He said, “Many students have been insisting on the opening of colleges. Somehow online learning is not good enough for them to learn academically. It was really challenging. They wanted live or offline courses. Fully understanding this decision we took the decision to start colleges. Life has to go on. Learning has to go on. They can’t wait - they can’t lose a year.”
But not all colleges had students back on campus.
Mr Gopalakrishna, Principal of the Jyothy Institute of Technology, told NDTV, “We did a survey - only 18% of students wanted practical classes and only 8% wanted theory classes in campus.”
Dr Syeda Afrose, Principal, Maharani’s College said, “The response is very less. Maybe students are scared. Who would not be scared of this? All the teachers have got tested and are negative.”
Parental consent is necessary for the physical presence of students on campuses. Online classes are still an option for students who do not want to come to college.
It will be a long time before Karnataka campuses look like they did in the pre-COVID era.
