SHILLONG: Universities and educational institutes in the city are resorting to online classes as colleges remain closed indefinitely owing to the national lockdown.
Professors and teachers are reaching out to students on the virtual platform so that the lockdown does not create a backlog in the academic session.
At the North-Eastern Hill University, academic activities are conducted online. Its website has a section, ‘Notice regarding COVID-19’, under which the university has uploaded instructions for ‘non-live online teaching’ and ‘live online teaching’ as per UGC notifications.
“We have started online courses and a feedback system is also available. As for conducting examinations, we are waiting for the MHRD guidelines,” said Atanu Banerjee, associate professor at National Institute of Technology (NIT).
NIT has 900 students and 150 staff. Twenty-five students are stranded in the state and 98 per cent of them are international students, Banerjee said.
The Shillong branch of English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) started online classes by mid-March. Teachers hold online meetings with students and give them assignments as well as online tests, said director TK Kharbamon.
“We meet them (the students) on Skype and on Google Meet,” she added.
EFLU has around 120 students, and 21 regular and 10 guest faculty members. Fourteen students from Kerala are currently staying in a government shelter home in Laitumkhrah, the director informed.
The non-teaching staff at EFLU have been asked to work from home if they do not get curfew passes.
DP Goyal, director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong, said online classes are being conducted for a section of the students.
The online classes started by the end of March for the one-year executive programme course and PhD courses. “We complete our programme by mid of March, so by the time the lockdown was announced our second-year students were out. Our first-year students were out by end of February and they have to go for summer internship. Some of them are working from home already,” he explained.
Many IIM students are also utilising Coursera and similar online platforms which offer free courses.
Goyal said the institute can make up for the two or three weeks of the academic session which the students lost by organising extra classes.
Online classes are helping students to maintain the academic rhythm but poor internet connectivity is a challenge. Admitting that it is a problem in Shillong, EFLU director Kharbamon said students are given more time to finish their assignments. “They are asked to send pictures of their assignments to teachers on WhatsApp.”
Another problem for EFLU is that the university has been instructed by the headquarters to conduct an online examination but “there are many difficulties as the situation has left students and faculty members unprepared”.
“We still carry on as the students are occupied and engaged. So far so good,” she added.
COVID centres
The EFLU guest house and IIM have been converted into quarantine centres. When asked why the campus of an educational institute is being used as a quarantine centre, Goyal said, “It is a national calamity and it is the responsibility of everyone to come forward and do his or her bit… Now everybody has to contribute. That is the main reason (for offering help). Another reason is none of our students are here and we thought it would be proper to offer it for the purpose. We have also offered our new campus at Umsawli.”
Edu programmes on TV
The Directorate of Educational Research and Training will telecast educational programmes aimed at secondary stage students through Doordarshan Kendra, Shillong, from Monday to Saturday. According to the joint director of the Educational Research and Training, the first telecast will be on May 2 at 11 am.