Pics: Kevin Rodrigues
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (KR)
With Inputs from Media Release
Udupi, Aug 11: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) unveiled its plans for bringing students back to campus and maintaining continuity of learning and development of students amid the pandemic.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), an institution of eminence and one of India’s leading academic and research institutions, unveiled its plans on back to college campus and the preparations that are underway for a smooth transition from online to classroom mode for all its students. The press conference was addressed by Dr HS Ballal, pro-chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh, vice chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education Dr Narayana Sabhahit, registrar, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and SP Kar, convener of press conference and director, PR Media & Social Media Cell-Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
Further to the announcement made by the government of Karnataka for students of Higher Education and professional colleges to return to campus, MAHE too has paved the way for all its students to make this transition seamless and how all the colleges and universities of MAHE will function as per the protocols and ensure the students are safe and continue their learning in the shadow of the pandemic. In addition, since the announcement of NEP 2020, MAHE is aligning all its courses across its college’s in line with the proposed guidelines by the Government of India last year.
Dr HS Ballal, pro-chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education said, “At MAHE we want the best for our students, starting from proving covid vaccination or be it financial aid to covid impacted students. During these challenging times, we have been resilient and providing all the support to our students. The impact of COVID in the education sector has been massive. Institutes and universities have adopted the ‘new normal’ and ‘virtual education’, so the students do not have to suffer in their studies and career. With students now slowly returning to campus, we will ensure covid protocols are followed with utmost sincerity while the students learn and grow.
“We have started Manipal TATA Medical College at Jamshedpur. The first batch of students joined last year and we are running MBBS course and allied health courses there and at Bengaluru campus, the new engineering course will begin from this year. We are the only multidisciplinary university to get the institution of eminence status by the government of India in the year 2018.
“We have decided to waive off the tuition fees for those students whose family’s breadwinner died due to Covid 19. This applies from March 2020 to the rest of their course.
“We are the first to give a complete hospital Dr T M A Pai Hospital, Udupi, for the treatment of the Covid 19 patients and nearly 40 % of the strength to ICU and other facilities in the entire country. Even now, our MIT hostels are used for the quarantine facilities by the administration.
“We have decided to merge the TAMPI intuitions under MAHE from the new academic year 2022 onwards. This step is taken as new rules for the MBA courses.
“Even thought our income from the hospital, hostels and other sources have come down drastically due to the pandemic, we have paid full salaries to our staff. We have hiked the salaries this year as well,” he said.
Sharing his views, Lt Gen Dr Venkatesh, vice-chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, said, “Considering the evolving changes in the education sector especially in the COVID era, colleges and universities are trying to build a future-ready and pandemic proof environment and we are happy to say that MAHE has achieved significant progress. We are all set to welcome our students to the college campus. Our COVID 19 vaccination drive for all our students and staff has made us better prepared for a smooth transition from online to classroom mode. We will continue to implement all government protocols of maintaining high standards of safety for students on campus with COVID appropriate measures. MAHE has already created a road map for implementation of NEP 2020.”
“We have published more than 400 publications during the pandemic which covers various aspects related to Covid-19.
“About the implementation of the NEP, 20 academic bank of credit will be effective from 2021-22. Students admitted from here onwards are eligible to take the academic bank of credits. Now, institutions who can take advantage of this policy are those who are ranked within 100 in NRIF or institution eminence like MAHE or A+ in NRIF,” he said.
Dr Narayana Sabhahit, registrar, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, said, “At MAHE we have always kept our students as our topmost priority. We have achieved a seamless and uninterrupted education continuity for all our students across all departments/courses. We have guided our students at every step since the pandemic in 2020 last year. Fortunately, all the exams, tests and courses were conducted seamlessly. We have received overwhelming response from students seeking new admission at MAHE. We are proud to say that our faculty and students have collaborated to sail through the pandemic. With the implementation of the new NEP policy, we aim to build a stronger and value-based higher education system.
“As per the UGC guidelines, we have conducted examinations for all final year students either online or offline.
“As per the government guidelines, we are planning to bring the health science students this month and whatever practically is pending will be taken care of first. In September-mid onwards, in a phased manner, we will call other students to the campus after examination of the situation. When we call the students to the campus, one needs to have the 72 hours RT-PCR negative report and at least one dose of vaccine. Once the screening committee examine them, they will be sent for quarantine as per the guidelines and once they finish their term, they will be issued with pass for the access of place in the campus.
“This year we have started a few new programmes in our main campus at Manipal and other campuses of the MAHE,” he said.
SP Kar, convener of the press conference and director, PR Media & Social Media Cell- MAHE, informed and highlighted the achievements of MAHE on the ranking and accreditation by various national and international agencies. He further added that most of the constituent institutions of MAHE have either improved or maintained their ranking as compared to previous year.