Governor Droupadi Murmu on Saturday chaired a meeting over video conferencing with the Vice Chancellors of all the five universities in Jharkhand amid the Coronavirus lockdown, and sought details of the initiatives taken by the universities to minimise the effects of the lockdown on academics.
The five universities here –Ranchi University, Sidhu Kanhu University, Nilambar Pitambar University, Kolhan University and Vinoba Bhave University– have been asked to run online classes for students during the lockdown. Ranchi University, which is spread across five districts, has already held 213 online classes on different platforms since the lockdown, said RU Vice Chancellor Ramesh Pandey.
Meanwhile, the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all the universities to launch helpline numbers for students facing problems due to the lockdown, sources present in the meeting said. "
We launched a number for our students in order to help the ones who are in distress due to the lockdown restrictions. Our university has also provided ration to some of the students who shared their ordeals on the helpline number," said a senior official of Ranchi University.
The lockdown, enforced in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, has affected over 5 lakh university students in Jharkhand.
While the lockdown is likely to be further stretched as the cases of Coronavirus in the country have been on the rise, examinations may also get delayed due to the lockdown, sources said. “We can hold exams for some courses immediately after the lockdown. But, some exams may get delayed," said an RU official.
The Governor on Saturday asked all the Vice Chancellors to use digital platforms for classes and make sure that the lockdown does not bring academic proceedings to a standstill. "She has asked us to use digital platforms for classes and ensure that studies are not hampered to a large extent," said one of the attendees of the meeting.
However, most of the universities here are facing problems due to the lack of access to digital mediums among students in rural areas, sources said. The students from urban areas are attending classes online and benefitting, however, the ones in rural areas do not have the necessary gadgets for online classes, said an RU official.
More than half of students going to colleges under State universities here live in rural areas, said sources. "Most of our rural students do not have laptops or other gadgets needed for online classes. This is one of the challenges," said the RU official.