Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Dec 5: It has been two weeks since the colleges opened up for the final year degree and postgraduate degree students. However, there has not been any appreciable improvement in the student attendance.
Compulsory COVID test with negative certificate, availability of online classes, need to obtain permission letter from parents etc seem to have kept the students away from the colleges. Sources in the education department say that about 20 percent students alone are attending classes. There is information that some private colleges are resorting to pressure tactics to make the students attend the classes.
Students in college after reopening (file photo)
Out of the three districts covered by Mangalore University, average attendance is more in Udupi and Kodagu districts. In Dakshina Kannada district, a large number of students seem to have chosen to attend online classes.
Some colleges have been recording offline classes and forwarding the same to students. In some other colleges, the classes are beamed online. The journalism department of the university college here has been allowing students to take part in the classes though their live YouTube channel. Even when the student strength at the classes stays at four to five, classes are continued to be held.
The principal of a government college here is of the opinion that the government has to permit colleges to open by changing some of the conditions. Some students leave home for college. At the college, they say they attend online classes. They roam around beaches and malls. In a recent incident, the police had chased away students from a beach. The students seem to think that they get coronavirus infection only if they attend classes but not when they visit hotels, and other eating joints, he says.
In the meantime, students from Kasargod, Kumble and Manjeshwar have also chosen to stick to online classes because of higher ticket fare, non-issuances of bus passes etc. In the past, many of these students came to the city by trains.
As on December 2, 2,464 out of 13,771 college students in Dakshina Kannada district attended colleges. In Udupi, 1,929 out of 6,413 students and 406 out of 965 college students in Kodagu attended classes. Mangalore University vice chancellor, Prof P S Yadapadithaya, says that the students have the opportunity to learn online and they do not face attendance problem even if they do not attend classes. He notes that some students come to colleges just to clarify their doubts. He expects the attendance percentage to improve in January.