Universities, colleges set to reopen today

Teachers express resentment over conduct of classes on Saturdays

After close to nine months, higher education institutions are set to partially reopen in the State on Monday amid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The resumption of offline classes comes as a relief for large sections of the academic community that feared the consequences that a zero academic year potentially have on career prospects.

Around 1,350 colleges, including arts and science, engineering, law, fisheries science, music and fine arts, almost all State universities and the Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, will receive students in adherence to a stringent protocol that will involve thermal screening, frequent sanitisation of campuses, constant use of face masks and enforcement of physical distancing. The classes will be held at 50% attendance and on shift basis if the need arose, depending upon the student strength.

While classes will resume for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of all batches, online sessions will continue for those of all other categories for the time being. The government will take a call on the other batches after evaluating the arrangements after 10 days.

The institutions will function from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all days except Sundays, apparently to maximise teaching hours. The decision to conduct classes on Saturdays has led to resentment among a section of the teaching fraternity that has accused the government of increasing their work load.

However, Usha Titus, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, maintained that the guideline was a stop-gap arrangement to compensate for the lost time and ensure the academic year did not fall into disarray. She said the work pattern would continue to adhere to the University Grants Commission (UGC) guideline that mandated 40 working hours a week, of which 16 hours had to be dedicated for teaching for assistant professors and 14 hours for associate professors and professors. Students will have to attend a maximum of five class hours a day.

Many college principals remained apprehensive of the students’ concerns, especially those related to transportation woes and accommodation facilities. While the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will resume counters for receiving applications for student concessions on Monday, teething issues concerning their issuance are likely to persist during the initial weeks of reopening.

Source: Read Full Article