By N.B. Hombal
Bengaluru, Nov 18 (IANS): Not many students attended degree colleges that commenced in the state on Tuesday after a long gap of more than seven due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early March.
Several campuses wore a deserted look despite the order to reopen colleges from Tuesday onwards. Be it engineering or regular colleges, all wore deserted look as only a handful of students came for inquiries and not to attend classes.
Ramesh Kumar, a final year BSc student at the Seshadripuram degree college, said that he had come to the college to attend his lab classes. "For science students, it becomes extremely helpful if you are physically present during lab classes as they can be tricky," he said.
His friend Anand Kumar, a BA final year student, said that he came to have a feel of the college as he was missing being on-campus for a long time. "Unlike Ramesh, I am not worried much about classes, as if I can come to college occasionally to clarify a few doubts, it would help me. For our stream, we need more books to read, which we take from the college library to prepare for our examinations," he explained.
Both said that only around 20 students in BSc final year and 10 in BA final year had come to the college.
Pallavi N., a lecturer in Sheshadripuram college, said that many parents are worried and are yet to sign the consent forms. As a result, attendance in colleges is likely to remain thin for few more weeks, till the parents feel that their children would be safe on campus.
Venkatesh Reddy, who is studying aircraft maintenance in the East-West engineering college, said that for him coming to college is a necessity as he cannot afford to entirely depend on text books alone. "I need to attend practicals on a regular basis. My course is such that I cannot miss my practical classes. Most of our friends have gone back to their native places. In our stream, only two students had come today to inquire with our teachers," he said.
A lecturer conceded on condition of anonymity that he himself had not signed a consent form for his son to attend college, as the situation is still not safe. "The circumstances are such that as a father, my hands are shivering to sign the consent form," he said.
He added that it's better to lose a year than get into some serious health trouble.
Dharaneesh R., a second year BCA student at the Bishop Cotton's College in Yelahanka, told IANS that he had come all the way from Doddaballpaur, which is 25 km from Yelahanka, to pick a new set of books from his college library. "I came from my native place just to replace my old books with new ones, as I am going into the fourth semester this year," he said.
Dharaneesh said he had accompanied three of his friends who had also come to pick books, and the classes are yet to commence.
Meanwhile the principal of the Bishop Cotton Academy of Professional Management, Sam Martin Christopher, said that though his academy is following all the precautionary measures, the students are yet to come in full strength.
"The parents are too worried to send their wards to the college. I accept that students from BCom and BA streams would continue to opt for online classes for some more time compared to students from the science stream," he said.