Students allege that colleges have failed to adhere to norm of online/offline mix; if this continues then students will be forced to protest, warns union
KC College students had written to Maharashtra Students Union (MASU) highlighting their concern about the offline mode getting discontinued from February 8. Representative image
While the Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Department and University of Mumbai (MU) had directed colleges to provide both offline and online modes of education to students from February 1, it has now come to light that many colleges in the state and Mumbai, including law colleges, have failed to adhere to this norm. This has compelled students to write to the student’s union seeking their intervention in the matter.
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“We have received complaints from seven to eight colleges in Mumbai and across Maharashtra, and even students at individual capacity have approached the union. In Mumbai, KC College students had written a lengthy email to our union, highlighting their concern about the offline mode getting discontinued from February 8,” said Advocate Siddharth Ingle, Founder President, Maharashtra Students Union (MASU).
“The central government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that vaccination is completely voluntary and not mandatory. This means that Uday Samant, the education minister, is running the Department of Higher and Technical Education arbitrarily without considering the interests of the students and the students have to bear the loss and consequences. If this continues then the students will have no recourse other than protest,” he said.
He added, soon after receiving the complaint from KC College students, he approached principal H Bagla, wherein she mentioned that the college was still in the process of making a list of students regarding their vaccination status.
Shifting responsibilities
“The state’s Department of Higher and Technical Education has shifted their responsibility to the university, which in turn has put a burden on colleges, and the colleges have started their arbitrariness,” said Ingle. On January 25, 2022, the department through GR, had allowed offline mode from February 1 for those who have taken both doses of vaccination.
“It is observed that the circular is recommendatory and not mandatory, which means that students need to be afforded a choice of attending physically or virtually. This is inherent in every citizen’s Right to Choice within the ambit of Personal Liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution,” Floyd Gracias, Counsel Supreme Court, who is also a visiting lecturer in law.
Onus on the colleges
Amol Deshmukh, an official from Higher and Technical Education department, said, “The mandate from the department is clear to execute both the mode of teaching (offline and online) so that the vaccinated and non-vaccinated students could continue with their studies, and the onus is on the respective colleges. The colleges which are conducting offline courses should ensure that such sessions are recorded and the entire lecture is uploaded on the college portal in recorded form. “
Other side of the story
Dr Hemlata Bagla, Principal, KC college, said, “If the students had any issues, they should have brought their concern to the notice of the concerned heads or me as the head of the institution. We would have been in a better position to resolve any of their grievances. Moreover, I have always encouraged an open walk-in policy, but no student approached us.”
But when informed that an email was sent to not only the principal but to the two vice principals by the students, highlighting their concerns, Bagla admitted to receiving the mail, but said, “The email id was created in the name of ‘studentsofkccollege’ and we do not know the actual sender. We know each student’s issue will be different, why collective mail? However, we had provided an alternate mode of making a complaint, but we presume that due to the fear of getting identified, no complaint was received.”
‘Mishandling of email IDs’
Principal Bagla further clarified, “As per the government directives from February 1, we had started the college in both online and offline mode, and most of the students who were vaccinated, had resumed the college. It was observed that during the hybrid sessions, as the lecturer would be busy teaching the offline class, they would seldom be able to pay attention to four or five students joining online, also students would face bandwidth issues or even audio clarity problems, hence we decided to stop the online class for the time being.” She added, “If HSC/SSC exams are conducted offline, why can’t the other students prepare to resume offline colleges. Students are mishandling the emails provided for internal streamlining of communications.”
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