Assam: Tech students miss offline classes over hostel confusion – Times of India

Even though online education is on, some students are not comfortable with the mode of teaching and would prefer in-person classes. An order issued by the state education department on October 21 stated that in respect of students of all semesters and classes of degree colleges, PG colleges, universities and technical institutions, who will stay in the hostels, Rapid Antigen Test will be mandatory before entering the hostel. The order said the directive came into effect on November 1 itself. The hostel reopening move, however, comes with a rider——the Covid positivity rate in the district should be less than 2%.

Principal secretary to the Assam education department, B Kalyan Chakravarthy, told TOI that from November 1 all hostels in the state have been allowed to open. “From Class 1 to higher classes there is no curb,” said Chakravarthy, adding that the question of not reopening hostels anywhere in the state does not arise.

JEC principal Reeta Sarmah said offline classes were possible only for final year students. “Ours is a residential institution. As per the government directive we are continuing with online education for intermediate students. They are not hostel residents. Final year students are in hostels and joined physical classes,” she added.

As most of the students of engineering colleges of the state reside in hostels within the campus, closure of hostels for intermediate students has also deprived them of offline classes.

The misinterpretation of government directives and SOPs have affected the studies of engineering students as for many of them poor internet connectivity and lack of proper digital infrastructure has been a hurdle.

An official of JIST said they communicated with the district administration for clarification on the matter, but have not received a reply.

The two government schools in Guwahati, which were declared containment zones on October 28 after the detection of Covid infection among a few teachers, reopened on Monday. In another private school in the city, Kamrup (Metro) DC Biswajit Pegu said 12 students had tested Covid positive in the last two days. “The source of the infection is yet to be confirmed,” said Pegu, as the district administration declared the school as a micro containment zone for seven days from Monday.