We are dealing with the worst situation since World War II: S. Mallikarjunaswamy

These are first-hand student accounts on how our young population is managing to keep their exam prep or college course work going from the confines of their homes. In case you want to share your lockdown study experience, write to us at publish@shiksha.com.

We haven’t heard this term ‘pandemic’ for decades before but now this word is unforgettable and the ongoing spread of the novel COVID-19 that has become one of the biggest threats to the human race. Since its first outbreak in Wuhan city of China in December last year, the virus has been confirmed in more than 200 countries and their territories with a time span of just 4 months. At the time of this writing, more than 1,853,251 patients have been infected and 114,178 have died according to the World Health Organization (WHO) figures and hence mortality and morbidity across the globe are on a peak.

The COVID-19 pandemic is confronting an unprecedented challenge to the people and governments worldwide and will affect all walks of life. And the prudent steps such as lockdown and social distancing are something that has been adopted as the reliable solutions by the governments worldwide. This is going to be a challenging time for everyone and people all over the world are going through a crucial time and dealing with one of the worst situations since World War II.

Q: How is your college tackling the current situation, ensuring that this does not adversely affect your studies?

A: All the educational institutions around the world facing this biggest challenge as either they have postponed or canceled all campus events and academic activities. Educational institutes worldwide are following advisories and guidelines strictly formulated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and World Health Organization(WHO) to protect all students and their staff members from this highly infectious respiratory disease. Teachers and lecturers are teaching their students through online platforms. They come up with this solution within some weeks’ time that they were able to teach and mentor the students while sitting at home through some fixable work practices. One of the main requirements here is the internet availability, through which assignments can be shared and classes can be delivered and can be accessed and attended by the students through laptops, tablets, and even on a smartphone. The queries and doubts can also be taken easily from the students for better interaction so that their studies cannot be affected adversely. That’s why our college has moved from offline teaching to online teaching for the sake of students and its staff members’ health and it has got good results as well.

Q: Are there online classes being conducted? If yes, how effective are these? With what frequency are these held? Are they sufficient to cover the designated syllabus?

A: Yes, online classes are being conducted in our college and we have found online learning could be a greater opportunity in this critical time. Students are capable enough and young-minded to show their active participation and cope up with faculty members while learning online. They have conducted classes four days a week and 3 hours’ classes in a day. Certainly, they are well designed by our college’s consummate professionals and cover the remaining syllabus efficiently.

Q: Are you projects or assignments to work on from home? What is the number of online submissions required to take place?

A: Due to this outbreak of COVID-19, faculties are providing projects and assignments to work from home to students. They are providing questions for the assignment and topic for the project and the submission must be made in doc file only.

Q: How is the college making up for any lab/practical work? If at all?

A: It is not possible to conduct lab tests and practical work online as for lab testing, equipment is not available and for the online practical test, it is difficult to monitor and to ensure that students are not cheating during the test.

Q: Anything else the college is doing in these times that is noteworthy that you would like to draw attention to?

A: In this critical time, where all walks of life are affected across the world. Colleges have to prepare a road map that proper counseling services provide to the students for their mental health and well-being. The health and safety of students and staff should be the top priority. And online quiz and competitions also conducted. The college librarian provides e-novels for the students. 

About the Author:

S. Mallikarjunaswamy is an engineering pass out from Sri Shanmugha College of Engineering & Technology in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working as a Data Scientist.