Karnataka to reopen offline classes the academic year of 2020-21

“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.”

-David M. Burns

The pandemic has disrupted the economic system of the nation. The country is going through a recession. The schools, shops, schools, colleges and universities have been closed down. In the wake of coronavirus, the country is under lockdown. There have been several steps taken to ensure a check of the cases. India ranks third in the list but the country is under the phase of unlocking to regain economic growth. Millions of people are jobless that created tremendous pressure in the economy. The shutting down of several schools and universities has resulted in the loss of the economy. The gender gap in a pandemic is another disadvantage. The unscheduled closure of the schools and colleges have threatened the career of the students.

“The world has survived different kinds of crises. People have seen world wars and economic depression, but the human spirit has endured and survived.”
–Swati Rustagi

The pandemic has affected several educational institutions globally. Most of the universities have restored their studies through an online mode of education. The teachers and students have started to adopt the change. The introduction of several modes of communication has replaced the traditional medium of communication. ‘WhatsApp’, ‘zoom’, MS Team and so on are now in fashion. Various educational websites have started to provide free courses to help students with learning. Teachers and vice-chancellors from various universities have contributed immensely in bringing back the students. Several ongoing discussions have been organised to ease the effect of the pandemic. The pandemic has provided students with several opportunities.

Amongst all the states in India, Karnataka has decided to reopen the universities and colleges in the month of October for the academic year of 2020-21. However, from the first week of September, the online mode of studies will be encouraged. All the colleges and universities in the state are instructed to start the academic year from the first week of September. The online classes will take place in the initial phase. The Deputy Chief Minister and the Higher Education Minister, CN Ashwath Narayan said that all the preparations have been started to commence the online mode of studies. The state government is also prepared to start the offline classes in October. The offline classes will be conducted as per the UGC guidelines. The state government is waiting for the direction of the central government.

The Higher education department of the state will conduct the exams for the students of the final year in September. In the initial phase of the academic calendar, the students with backlogs in the undergraduate, diploma and engineering courses will be able to appear for the examination at the end of September. The academic year for various courses will be starting online in the month of September and the offline classes will be conducted in the month of October.

However, the state has decided to promote the students pursuing the intermediate semesters of various courses. This would include the students in undergraduate courses and post-graduation courses. The students will be promoted without examination. The evaluation will be done on the basis of the former semester examination. This include some internal assessments and the scores of the previous semester in the ratio of 50:50. However, the student of the first year will be promoted on the basis of the scores of the internal assessment. The students will be provided with an opportunity to score better grades in the next semester. The students who failed to succeed in the comprehensive test will be provided with another opportunity in the next semester. If any student of the final year examination, at any case, is unable to appear for the examination in the month of September, the respective candidate will be provided with an opportunity in the next semester or at any convenient time decided by the university.

There are several guidelines to follow:

• All the universities will need to issue the timeline.
• Several measures will be ensured to conduct the four weeks of offline classes.
• The guidelines prepared are to be followed in all the colleges, the private universities and deemed (to be) universities.
• All the universities must establish a grievance cell to clarify doubts of the students regarding the online classes and other queries that are related to universities during the pandemic.
• The exam will be conducted in the pen and paper mode.

This will apply only for the academic year of 2019-20. The decision has been taken after deliberate discussion and reviews of various authorities including the vice-chancellors from different universities, principals, stakeholders and academician.

Karnataka has 86366 cases of total coronavirus. The total number of cured/ active and discharge cases reported are 227018. The state has reported 5368 cases so far. Maharashtra has emerged to have the highest number of cases.

Several guidelines and precautionary steps will be carried out for the students on the campus. The guidelines from the centre are awaited.